Now’s the time of year when it’s hard to swim indoors.

Just ask Free State High coach Jama Crady.

“They’re going crazy right now,” she said of her swimmers at Tuesday’s practice. “They’re tired and all they want to do is taper.”

Lawrence High is in the same boat — it’s tough to focus with several other events happening.

“These girls have just done a good job to stay focused,” LHS coach Ryan Adams said. “Spring sports is always the worst time because there’s prom, Showtime, band trips. The senior barbecue was today. Stuff like that.”

When the Sunflower League meet begins today at 5 p.m. at Chisholm Trail Junior High, both coaches just hope the teams can focus on swimming. After all, some of the swimmers will use the league meet as one of the final opportunities to qualify for state.

The Lions already have qualified five swimmers and two divers already, and could have three more after the weekend. The closest? Freshman Becca Ball is just .02 seconds from going in the 500-yard freestyle.

“She’s the only one that’s really on the edge for qualifying,” Adams said.

The same could be said for Free State seniors Mandi Stebbins and Lindsey Witthaus. Witthaus, in fact, is nearly as close as Ball in the 500 free.

“Lindsey is so close to going to state, it’s sick,” Crady said.

As for the league meet contenders, the Lions should be near the top — Adams thinks they can finish top-three — while the Firebirds will be in the middle of the pack. Crady wasn’t sure whether FSHS freshman Ashley Robinson, a title contender in everything she swims, would be able to swim at league because of a prior commitment. Still, even with Robinson, the Firebirds wouldn’t catch Olathe East or Shawnee Mission East.

“Olathe East and Shawnee Mission East both have really good team this year,” Adams said. “In fact, they’ll both probably be in contention for the state title.”

When Saturday’s finals begin at 1 p.m., Adams hopes to be in the mix, nonetheless. He said surprises rarely occurred at this point of the season, but he’s not concerned about what other teams may do. He just wants to qualify more swimmers.

“My philosophy is, don’t worry about what everyone else is doing,” Adams said. “)Just do the best you can and it’ll take care of itself.”