When you swipe it shows you a red button saying Delete, just don't click pn that. If you want the swiping to have no effect then I hope you saved SHSH blobs from earlier versions of iOS/iPhone OS (maybe iPhone OS 3.x or iOS 4.x) so that you can downgrade.
Note: The SHSH blobs for iPhone OS 3.x cannot be saved on iPod touches after the iPod touch 3G. The SHSH blobs for iOS 4.x cannot be saved on the white iPod touch 4G.
I think Swipe to Delete came in iOS 4 (or iOS 5, not sure) so iPhone OS 3.x would be the best bet.