Eric Skelly is the Foresters' new head swimming and diving coach, announced Lake Forest College Assistant Vice President for Athletics Jim Catanzaro on Wednesday.

"I am incredibly honored and excited to join the Forester family," began Skelly. "The College has a stellar academic reputation and I am deeply impressed by Coach Catanzaro's vision for the Athletic Department. Having started my career in Illinois, I am well aware of the immense talent in this region. I look forward to leveraging those roots to build a perennial power in the Midwest Conference. Personally and professionally, this is a wonderful opportunity for my family and me to return to an area where we have such strong ties."

For the last 15 years Skelly was the head swimming and diving coach at University of Cumberlands in Williamsburg, Kentucky. His women's team has claimed 14 consecutive Mid-South Conference titles while the men have made it a sweep in all but three of those seasons. Under Skelly's direction, Cumberland swimmers have been named All-MSC nearly 300 times and have combined for 17 MSC Swimmer of the Year and a dozen MSC Freshman of the Year awards.

Cumberlands was also extremely successful at the national level during Skelly's tenure. This year the Patriot men were the runners-up at the NAIA National Championship Meet while the women finished third. His men's and women's teams have placed among the top eight at every national meet since he became the program's head coach with a combined eight top-three finishes. Skelly's swimmers won four events at the 2026 NAIA Championships and have claimed 16 individual event titles, two NAIA Swimmer of the Year awards, and an NAIA Diver of the Year honor with him as head coach.

Skelly's success over the years has led to several honors. He has been named MSC Men's Coach of the Year four times and earned the honor on the women's side twice. He was also named NAIA Women's Coach of the Year in 2013 and 2018.

Athletes at Cumberland were also successful in the classroom since Skelly took over as head coach with 26 Patriots being named College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America Scholar All-Americans and 38 being named Academic All-MSC. The Patriot men and women have earned CSCAA Scholar Team status each of the last four years.

Skelly's collegiate coaching career also includes three years as an assistant at the University of Nevada, Reno and three at Valparaiso University.

During his own collegiate career Skelly was a two-time All-American while competing for Ashland University and still ranks among the top 10 in program history in both backstroke events. He earned a bachelor's degree in criminal justice administration from University of Phoenix and a master's in sports administration from Valparaiso.

Skelly joins Zoe Rebol on the Forester coaching staff. Rebol served as the program's interim head coach during the 2025-26 season and was named Midwest Conference Women's Coach of the Year. She will remain with the program as an assistant coach under Skelly. 

"I am extremely excited about the future of Forester Swimming and Diving," exclaimed Catanzaro. "Coach Skelly already has an extremely long and impressive list of accomplishments as a collegiate head coach and Coach Rebol did a tremendous job with the team this past winter. I am confident they will lead an already strong program to even greater levels of success."