In my few hours, my perception has been that swings are faster, but getting to the animation takes longer. That is to say, the time from when I click to when the swing (or stab) starts seems longer, but the time from the start of the swing itself to the end of the swing seems faster. Also, canceling swings and feinting feels slower or delayed. It's felt to me most pronounced on bayonets, three/four direction weapons haven't as different, and the effect for all of the weapons feels far greater on populated servers than offline.