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NOME - What's your secret, Doug? What's the secret, Mr. Swingley? C'mon, tell us your secret. That's how it went for Doug Swingley at the finish line of the 28th annual Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. As if he were a contestant on the old TV show "I've Got a Secret." As if the deodorant he used was Ice Blue Secret. As if Groucho Marx was urging him to utter the secret word and claim a cash prize. Tuesday morning, Swingley, 46, won his third Iditarod championship, breaking his own record as the oldest musher to take the title and setting a speed record for the 1,100-mile race between Anchorage and Nome. His time of 9 days, 58 minutes, 6 seconds bested his old mark by more than 11/2 hours. Swingley established his kennel as the reigning long-distance mushing dynasty by capturing back-to-back championships. While his three titles merely tied him with Jeff King and Martin Buser and left him behind Rick Swenson's five crowns and Susan Butcher's four, it was the first time since Butcher's 1986-1987-1988 run that anyone repeated. Swingley remains the only musher living outside the state to ever make such an impact on Alaska's showcase sporting event. So he must have a secret, right? He is the only non-Alaska musher to win the Iditarod. With nine top-10 finishes, Swingley is the only non-Alaska musher to regularly threaten to win the Iditarod. Top-10 finishes by mushers residing elsewhere are very rare. Sven Engholm of Sweden placed ninth in 1999. Frank Teasley of Wyoming placed sixth in 1991. Robin Jacobson of Minnesota was sixth in 1990. Terry Adkins, also of Montana, recorded an eighth and a ninth in the 1980s. Canadian Larry "Cowboy" Smith had a third and fourth in the 1980s. Actually, a better comparison is Dr. Roland Lombard. Lombard, of Wayland, Mass., was another dog musher who triumphed dramatically and repeatedly over Alaska competition. At the top of his game in the late 1950s, 1960s and into the 1970s, he won eight Anchorage Fur Rendezvous World Championship sprint races. However, Lombard is not the only one to beat Alaskans in the sprint world. Just for starters, the two-time reigning Rondy champ is Egil Ellis of Sweden. Swingley stands alone as the only Outside musher to master the Iditarod. And he is not tempted to abandon Montana. Therefore, there must be a secret formula, a secret plan, a secret method. "It's total commitment," said Swingley, after he collected the $60,000 first prize. "Maybe I was the only one in the Lower 48 to set my life on the back burner." Swenson grew up in Minnesota, but felt Alaska was the place to be. Butcher is from Massachusetts, but was living in Alaska by the time she tried the Iditarod. Iditarod racers also have frequently stated that Alaska offers the best mushing environment. Swingley seeks to debunk conventional wisdom. "I have the ultimate training grounds," he said as he sat hugging Cola and Stormy, his two lead dogs, under the finish arch. "Montana is the mushing capital. I have 150 miles of groomed trails. There's enough snow. And there's sunshine. I don't know how the guys up here do it with three months of darkness." Swingley trains his dogs at high altitude and often takes them on runs longer than 100 miles. Libby Riddles, the 1985 champion, said Swingley has three titles not because of where he trains, but because he's obviously put more into it than other mushers from other places. "I think it's who you are," she said. "Doug just has more dedication and focus. He's just a hard-driving person." Race marshal Mark Nordman, a five-time Iditarod competitor from Grand Marais, Minn., said Swingley is pretty much the torch-bearer for Outside mushers. "We always felt we were five-to-seven years behind Alaskans," said Nordman. Nordman said others make a living in mushing-related ways, but Swingley "is the only one in the Lower 48 who is a professional racer." Is that the secret? Swingley groped for replies to "what's-your-secret" questions. "The secret of my dog team is resiliency," said Swingley. That had to pass for a trade secret. Swingley did not seem about to reprise Michael J. Fox's role in "The Secret of My Success." He did not seem about to re-record the Beatles' "Do You Want to Know A Secret?" either. Doug Swingley simply has the fastest dogs. There's no secret about that. * This column is the opinion of Daily News sports editor Lew Freedman. He can be reached at lfreedman@adn.com
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