| Doug Swingley was
born on May 14, 1953. This four-time champ returns to the starting
line this year after a traumatic and untimely end to his run in 2004
when he froze his corneas and had to be flown out for emergency
medical attention. Recent reports are that Swingley's eyes are
improving, and he has once again entered the race that has captured
and riveted his life to the runners for so many years.
Swingley had announced his
retirement in 2002 and
married his
sweetheart,
Melanie Shirilla
under the Burled Arch in Nome. He sat out 2003, but found that he
could not quit that easily, and there was that chance at achieving a
more strident place in Iditarod history. Another victory would make
Swingley a 5-time champion, a distinction held by only one musher in
the race's history - the venerable Rick Swenson.
On his very first race, Doug
established his presence by winning the Halfway Award, letting the
rest of the field know that he had come to win and not just to race.
He was named Rookie of the Year that first year, and has added many
more laurels to his resume since that initial effort.
Swingley dominated the 2000
race, winning the Halfway Award, First to the Yukon Award and Gold
Coast Award as he became the fifth musher in race history to win
three championships. In 2001, all five of those "three-time
champion" mushers had a shot at pulling away from the pack with a
fourth victory, but Doug put on another seminar and comfortably
bagged the fourth trophy.
Swingley now has won four races
including the last three in a row, before his 2002 "retirement
tour". Excitement was very high in 2002, as race fans prepared for a
real Swingley slugfest, but shortly after reaching the first
checkpoint he began falling behind. Speculation ran wild until
Swingley announced that he was going to retire, and was using this
last run to say goodbye to people he knew along the trail.
As is so often the case,
Iditarod retirement doesn't mean for very long, and Swingley was
back on the runners after sitting out only one race, then came the
eye tragedy. A victory this year would tie him with Rick Swenson who
has owned the top of the mountain with five trophies since 1991.
Swingley began mushing in 1989
when his brother, Greg, got him interested in the Iditarod. Since
his ninth-place finish in his first Iditarod, in 1992, he's been a
runner-up twice, in 1996 and 1997, and won the race in 1995, 1999,
2000 and 2001.
From their Lincoln, MT home,
the Swingleys train dogs and refine their kennel. Swingley has two
adult children, Heidi and Wes. He is a member of the Montana
Mountain Mushers and the ITC. |
