College Sports Communicators (CSC) announced the 2025-26 Academic All-District® Teams for swimming and diving on Tuesday and six Lake Forest College student-athletes were listed.

To be eligible for nomination, student-athletes must be the equivalent of starters or important reserves and have either competed in at least 75 percent of the team's competitions or placed among the top eight at the conference championship meet. They must maintain at least a 3.50 cumulative grade point average on a 4.0 scale at their current institution and be at least a sophomore academically and athletically.

Lake Forest's honorees were senior Valeria Welk; juniors Clayton Berg, Katie Downey, Zoe Feldblum, and Audrey Kilmer; and sophomore Jacob Jackson.

Welk was part of the Foresters' victorious 200-, 400-, and 800-freestyle relays at the 2026 Midwest Conference Championship Meet and finished her career having contributed to six conference relay titles and a pair of school records. She also finished third in the league in the 200-freestyle and sixth in the 100- and 500-freestyle this winter and has placed among the top eight at the MWC Championships nine times in her career. The politics major is a three-time Academic All-MWC honoree and was inducted into the Chi Alpha Sigma National College Athlete Honor Society last spring.

Berg finished fifth in the 100-butterfly, sixth in the 200-IM, and 10th in the 200-butterfly at the MWC Championships this year. He also helped both of the Foresters' medley relays place third in the league. Over the last three seasons he has placed among the top six in the league in eight of his nine individual events. The physics major earned the MWC Elite 20 Award in 2025 for owning the highest grade point average of any make swimmer at the conference meet and is now a two-time Academic All-MWC and CSC Academic All-District® honoree.

Downey placed 13th in the 100-butterfly, 14th in the 200-butterfly, and 16th in the 100-freestyle at this year's MWC Championship Meet and has now finished among the top 16 in the conference seven times in her career. She also swam the butterfly leg on Lake Forest's 400-medley relay team. The double-major in philosophy and economics is a two-time Academic All-MWC honoree.

Feldblum finished 12th in the 1650-freestyle and also competed in the 500- and 200-freestyle at the conference meet this season. She has now placed among the top 16 in the league six times in her career. The psychology major has twice been named Academic All-MWC.

Kilmer joined Welk on all three of the Foresters' conference championship relay teams in February and broke her own school record for the 100-freestyle while leading off the 400-freestyle relay. She also won individual titles this season in the 500-freestyle, 400-IM, and 200-backstroke. The 2024 MWC Women's Swimmer of the Year is now a 12-time league champion with seven of those titles coming in individual events. Kilmer is majoring in biology and is a two-time Academic All-MWC selection.

Jackson finished sixth in 3-meter diving, seventh off the 1-meter board, and 14th in the 100-freestyle at the 2026 MWC Championships. He was also named the Forester men's team's Most Improved Performer for the second year in a row. Jackson is a double major in physics and mathematics and was among the team's Academic All-MWC honorees last year.

This is the third year in a row exactly six members of the program have been received Academic All-District® distinction from CSC.