The Midwest Conference released its 2018-19 Swimming and Diving Coaches Polls on Thursday and the Forester men and women were each second in the rankings.
Voting is done by the MWC head swimming and diving coaches. Each coach votes for the other eight schools in the league in order of predicted finish at the 2018 MWC Championship Meet. Points are assigned in reverse order of voting (eight points for first, seven for second, etc.). Coaches may not vote for their own teams.
The Lake Forest men and women posted runner-up finishes at the 2018 MWC Championship Meet, trailing only Grinnell College in the standings. Current senior Heath Ogawa swept the diving events at last year's championships to repeat as the MWC Diver of the Year. He also went on to claim a national title off the 1-meter board and be named NCAA Division III Diver of the Year by the College Swimming Coaches Association of America. The Lake Forest women's team has a pair of returning MWC champions in junior Lizzie Johns and sophomore Susan Guo, who won the 1-meter diving and 100-butterfly events, repsectively. Eleventh-year head coach Vadim Tashlitsky's teams have finished among the top two in the league 16 of a possible 20 times during his tenure with the Lake Forest women capturing a title in 2012 and the men in 2014 and 2015.
Lake Forest will compete in a dozen meets before traveling to Grinnell College for the 2019 MWC Championships February 15-17.
Men's Preseason Coaches Poll
| PLACE | TEAM (First Place Votes) | POINTS |
| 1 | Grinnell College (8) | 64 |
| 2 | Lake Forest College (1) | 57 |
| 3 | Ripon College | 47 |
| 4 | Lawrence University | 40 |
| 5 | St. Norbert College | 35 |
| 6 | Monmouth College | 31 |
| 7 | Illinois College | 23 |
| 8 | Beloit College | 16 |
| 9 | Knox College | 9 |
Women's Preseason Coaches Poll
| PLACE | TEAM (First Place Votes) | POINTS |
| 1 | Grinnell College (7) | 64 |
| 2 | Lake Forest College (1) | 55 |
| 3 | Lawrence University | 51 |
| 4 | Ripon College | 34 |
| 5t | Beloit College | 31 |
| 5t | St. Norbert College | 31 |
| 7 | Illinois College | 26 |
| 8 | Monmouth College | 23 |
| 9 | Knox College | 9 |
