Lawrence high athletes Roy Wedge, front, and Dylan Hedges, rear, are two of a dozen cross country runners who have traded in their running shoes for swimming caps this winter.

Following a fall season of demanding five-kilometer runs, what better way to spend your winter than swimming in a warm, indoor pool?

For 12 of Lawrence High’s boys swimmers that idea sounded pretty good when coach Kent McDonald pitched it to them. You see, half of the Lions’ 24-man roster is filled with cross country runners, including the top two runners from the 2007 season – senior Dylan Hedges and sophomore Roy Wedge.

Though Hedges didn’t swim his junior year, he did as a freshman and sophomore and said it wasn’t an easy transition to make because swimming had never been his favorite thing growing up.

“I was always the runner,” Hedges said. “Actually, as a kid I hated getting in the water. I just didn’t like to get wet. I’m not really a pool guy, but, you know, it’s great cross-training; I decided to do it in the winter.”

Like most cross country runners, Hedges runs track in the spring and found swimming to be a smart way to stay fit while taking a little time off from running. That was the sales pitch McDonald gave him and the other runners and the coach said the fitness factor, along with the notion that some runners were interested in triathlons, made it an easy sell.

“What I emphasized was the fact that they could stay in shape for track and be ready without putting the stress on their body,” McDonald said.

This season marks the first time that Wedge has ever swam competitively, and he said training goes by much faster when he’s in the pool.

“I did winter training by myself last year and I’d rather do swimming,” Wedge said. “It wasn’t very rewarding to go running by myself.”

But the transition to the water isn’t completely fluid for the Lions’ natural-born runners.

“It’s a different sport,” Wedge said. “It’s not the same type of workout. It’s a lot more about breathing.”

That and upper body strength, Hedges added, make swimming a challenge.

“It’s definitely a different animal. It’s so much upper body and it’s just a different kind of shape (that your body needs to be in),” Hedges said. “When you get out of practice it’s just a completely different kind of tired than running.”

Being a runner on the swim team has its advantages and disadvantages. While Hedges admitted his swimming form is far from honed, he said his endurance – which he gets from running – is the only thing keeping him going at times.

McDonald said that is why he puts Hedges in freestyle distance races of 200 or 500 yards.

“His technique isn’t great,” the coach said. “He doesn’t really work on the other strokes too much, but his endurance is so good that he’s one of our top swimmers. He is our top (swimmer) who isn’t a full-year swimmer – it’s just his fitness.”

A year-round swimmer and senior leader for the Lions, Alex Boyer said the cross country runners on the team assimilate perfectly and bring a little fire to the pool.

“They’re extremely competitive. When they’re in the water, they’re in the water, and that’s their entire focus because they know that getting better in swimming often means getting better in everything else,” Boyer said.

The swim team’s leader said he hopes Hedges, who is considering swimming part-time in January and February so he can focus more on the upcoming track season, will stick around and help the Lions.

“He’s just an overall leader, he’s not afraid of anything,” Boyer said of Hedges. “He’s not afraid to go do that 500 because it’s nothing compared to a six-mile run. He’s a real leader as far as that goes.”