Lawrence's Ryal Mitchell, 12, competes in the 200-meter freestyle at the Wave the Wheat Meet on Sunday at Lawrence Indoor Aquatic Center.

Lawrence Aquahawks Phoebe Grabill, left, and Lucy Sirimongkhon-Dyck, center, both 12, chat with teammates after competing in the 200-meter freestyle. The girls were among hundreds of swimmers participating in the Wave the Wheat Meet, which finished Sunday at Lawrence Indoor Aquatic Center.

Two-hour practices six days a week prove swimming is no joke to 12-year-old Lawrence Aquahawks Phoebe Grabill, Heather Cistola and Shannon Brouk.

For those girls, swimming is serious business, and they have the intensity and passion to prove it.

“These three are just absolutely tremendous,” said Scott Bliss, head age-group coach for the Aquahawks. “They come to practice every day and work hard. These girls will do anything I ask them to do.”

The girls say practice can take away from time with their friends, but that doesn’t stop them from showing up.

“It’s hard,” Cistola said. “But you get this adrenaline like you know you want to do this, and you love the sport so it’s like it doesn’t matter.”

Working hard is simply part of the game for these up-and-coming swimmers, and it’s a part they enjoy.

“These girls simply thrive on working hard,” Bliss said. “They want and they crave work.”

Asked about her favorite stroke, Grabill said she liked butterfly because it was the most challenging.

“Everybody doesn’t like it ’cause it’s so tiring,” she said. “But I just think it’s fun to push through it.”

The girls have seen the benefit of their efforts this past year.

“They’ve all made huge strides in the arena,” Bliss said. “It’s a hard transition (to the 12-and-under divisions. Sometimes you see the 11-year-olds kind of floundering, but these girls have been improving tremendously.”

Sunday at the Wave the Wheat meet at Lawrence Indoor Aquatic Center, the girls recorded some of the top times in their division.

In the 50-meter butterfly, Cistola took third place in 32.67 seconds, and Grabill and Brouk were close behind in 34.16 and 35.47. Grabill and Cistola tied for seventh in the 100 backstroke in 1.17.58. Brouk took 14th in 1.19.92.

In the 200 freestyle, Grabill finished second at 2.19.97, followed by Cistola in third at 2.25.00 and Brouk in seventh at 2.25.59. All three have qualified for the Central Zone Championships, Aug. 6-10 in Indianapolis.

But swimming isn’t all work for these girls. Between intense training and competitive meets, the speedy racers say they have found some of their strongest friendships.

“Every time we go to a big meet, we meet more people from other teams,” Grabill said. “I just start hanging out with them when I see them again.”

For Cistola, swimming was an easier way to make friends than school.

“Swim team is just so friendly,” she said. “They’re all so comforting. You can say hi, and they won’t think you’re weird. It’s cool.”

“We’re close,” Brouk added. “We do relays together, we usually compete together and swim next to each other.”

Bliss said that was by design.

“Swimming really becomes their social outlet,” he said. “It encompasses more than just going to practice. It becomes a huge part of their lives. They kind grow up together in this program.”

The ultimate goal of starting swimmers at such a young age is to give them preparation for a long swimming career.

“I want them to become motivated to come to practice on their own,” Bliss said. “I want them to come because they want to, not because they have to.”