Despite all the big names in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, Rick Swenson remains The Man.

His personality overshadows all others. His performances are scrutinized. Can Rick do it again? Is Rick washed up?

The five-time winner of the Iditarod, who's never met a blunt statement he didn't like, finished fourth Wednesday night in the 27th annual race. Subtract the organized hoopla surrounding winner Doug Swingley, and Swenson's reception was nearly as loud.

Put it this way: Fans came out to fete the winner when Swingley crossed the finish line 18 hours earlier. They came out of their homes and the saloons to clap for other mushers because they got here. And they turned out for Swenson because he is Swenson.

It was gravy he placed as high as fourth, his best race since 1994, at age 48. That must be disconcerting for those who were hoping the musher from Two Rivers was over the hill.

Uh-uh. The king is back in the mix. He ran a first-rate race. How aggravating for Iditarod fans who consider Swenson as the poster-guy male chauvinist. Back when he was battling Susan Butcher, he didn't exactly say women were better off barefoot and pregnant than in the Iditarod but he DID say he would walk to Nome if a woman ever beat him.

Rick Swenson dominated the spotlight. He'd tell you he was the best musher on the trail, then go out and win. Or win more than anyone else.

There was a lot of the old Rick on display on a crisp night in Nome when he finished in 10 days, 8 hours, 19 minutes. You might think he'd be satisfied with fourth after results of 10th, withdrawn, and 11th wrapped around a no-race, these last several years.

Shows what you know.

"I thought I should have won," Swenson said. "I didn't play my cards right. It would have been a different race. I never got the snap back in my team after Iditarod."

Satisfied, no, but pleased, yes. Swenson's second half of the decade has been as much soap opera as race story. He said he was retiring from the Iditarod, and his 10th-place finish in 1995 was supposed to be a farewell race.

He ended up in the 1996 race, anyway, but the death of a dog early on - his first in the Iditarod - resulted in race officials withdrawing him. Swenson was bitter. He said he was through with the Iditarod, and that he was going to court to sue to restore his reputation. Instead, he won an internal appeal. Even though he couldn't get the lost 1996 race back, that decision brought him back after skipping the 1997 race.

But when Swenson finished 11th in 1998, his first finish out of the top 10, it seemed like he might be slipping from serious contender to historical-footnote status.

This race showed that view is wrong. Rick Swenson does not race for Iditarod finisher belt buckles. He races for championship trophies.

"I could have done better, but 10 or 15 people behind me could say the same thing," said Swenson. "My goal is to win the Iditarod next year, to start off the millennium."

Vern Halter, the Willow musher who closed strongly to take third, finally reeling in Swenson, said it was no surprise to see the Iditarod's winningest musher back near the front.

"It didn't surprise me," said Halter, who considered this a Swenson get-

back-in-the-groove appearance. "He means to win next year. This was a test case."

Race marshal Mark Nordman said the Iditarod needs colorful characters like Swenson. Not only is it good publicity, but a core group of race fans identify with him, see him as a symbol of the race: Swenson as rugged outdoorsman who can conquer any challenge of the elements.

"It makes you think you can have that kind of lifestyle," said Nordman. "He personalizes it."

This Iditarod had some terrible trail, vicious storms, overflow on rivers and high winds.

"A lot of interesting stuff happened in this year's race," said Swenson.

Some people are intimidated when that "stuff" happens; Swenson revels in it.

Not only did he prove that old age hasn't set in yet, he showed that the other fast mushers who took control of the Iditarod since he last won in 1991 - Swingley and three-time winners Martin Buser and Jeff King - must still reckon with him. If you're in the top five, you're only one well-placed blizzard away from first.

"I think he never was out (of contention)," said Buser. "When I think of mushers, I think if they are a factor in the race, he probably was this year."

Not only did Swenson return with a vengeance, his friend Sonny Lindner is driving a team of young second-string Swenson dogs that is not far from top-20 money. The farm system is clearly producing for that 2000 title chase.

Swenson won titles in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. He wants to make his mark on the next decade right away.

Some sensitive Alaskans will grit their teeth. Some grizzled Alaskans will cheer. But all Alaskans will be riveted to the spectacle. Rick Swenson is the magnet for Iditarod eyes.

* This column is the opinion of Daily News sports editor Lew Freedman