Athletes - Doug Swingley

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	Athletes - Doug Swingley

Doug Swingley (born May 14, 1953) is an American dog musher and dog sled racer from Lincoln, Montana, who is a four-time winner of the 1,049-mile Iditarod sled dog race across Alaska. His victory in 1995 marked the first time a non-Alaskan won the race, and he followed it by winning in 1999, 2000, and 2001. He competed in every Iditarod from 1992 to 2002, and during his rookie outing he won the Dorothy G. Page Halfway award, for being the first musher to reach the halfway point of the race.

Swingley pulled out of the 2004 Iditarod because of frostbite in his corneas (eyes). Since the injury, his night vision has diminished, so he prefers to race during the day. He placed 14th in the 2005 race, and is currently signed up for the 2006 race. If he wins he will tie Rick Swenson as a five-time winner. The only other four-time winners are Susan Butcher and Martin Buser.

In 2002, he married Melanie Shirilla under the "burled arch", the traditional finish line of the Iditarod in Nome. Musher and dog breeder, Doug Swingley, 52, was born in Montana. He began mushing in 1989. His brother, Greg, sparked his interest in the Iditarod and he has been hooked ever since. He is a four-time Iditarod champion. He says he continues to run the Iditarod because “I love traveling with my dogs.” Doug is a member of the Montana Mountain Mushers, Mush with P.R.I.D.E. and the ITC. Doug is married to Melanie Shirilla, also a musher. Doug has two adult children, Heidi and Wes. He lists his hobbies as dogs, flying and Melanie.

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