A bethelite friend back in the day told me that, during the time Swingle was the head of the writing dept. and was working on writing his assignment in a new release publication or an "important" new Watchtower issue...that he would lock himself in a room for 3-4 days with no food and no water, just him, his research, his writing, and supposedly his prayers.
I remember how hearing things like that made me really think that the FDS must really be approved and guided by Jehovah. Either way, he must have been a pretty spiritual man.