With a small team and big changes looming, this is a season of flux in many ways for the Lindbergh boys swim team.

Despite the distractions, Lindbergh coach Roger Miron is hopeful the Eagles can still find some postseason success.

“They’re working hard and we’re going to play the underdog card this year,” Miron said. “We’ll see what we can do.”

The team is down to 15 after losing five seniors from last season.

Lindbergh has plenty of talent, starting with captains David Batschi and Tim Hillar-Catello. Both were district swimmers last season.

Sophomore Connor Guhlke is a year-round swimmer who has already improved drastically. He will lead the Eagles’ distance group.

Freshman Aaron Jacobsen is a summer-league swimmer with good promise.

“I could see him sticking around for four years and being something special,” Miron said of Jacobsen.

Senior Yusung Kim is Lindbergh’s lone returning state swimmer. He competed in the 200-yard medley relay that finished 18th in the preliminaries.

Miron’s goal is to get eight to 10 swimmers to districts. Having a small team will actually help because it allows him to figure out the right combination of events and relays to optimize his swimmers’ performance once the dual-meet season concludes.

Meanwhile, Miron and Lindbergh also have to deal with the looming budget issue that may close the Lindbergh pool.

Funding for the pool shifted from King County to the district this year and there is a $175,000 difference in operation costs and income for the pool.

In addition to Lindbergh, Kentridge also uses the pool. If the pool closes, Lindbergh would need to practice at the Hazen pool, along with Hazen and Renton High.

There’s also the question of Lindbergh dropping from 3A to 2A next year. As far as competitiveness, the move should help the Eagles since they will compete against similarly sized schools in the postseason.

Miron’s only hesitation is that it will discourage freshman from joining Lindbergh’s team.

“There’s always that stigma that you might lose kids because they want the exposure of a 3A or 4A school,” he said. “But if you make the state meet, you’re going to be seen no matter what classification you’re in.”

Postseason qualifying times should rise as there are fewer swimmers in 2A. That could make for more district and state swimmers in the future. Miron said many borderline district swimmers in 3A could be state swimmers in 2A. In the end though, it’s still about each swimmer working as hard as possible to make it as far as possible.

“Twenty-five yards is 25 yards,” Miron said.