By Rachel Robins
Independent Florida Alligator
As they prepare for a photo shoot, UF's Ryan Lochte and Bradley Ally stand to the side, joking around. Lochte picks up a bandage that was on Ally's broken hand and starts to smell it. He then sticks the wrapping in Ally's face and forces him to take a whiff. The senior and freshman begin to laugh simultaneously.

After a season full of broken NCAA, American and world records, this is how it ends for Lochte, joking around with his potential heir.

Ally did something Lochte also did during his first season at UF: He won the Southeastern Conference Male Freshman of the Year award. In addition, Ally is a six-time All-American and has earned a place on the All-SEC Second Team.

"I think it was a good year for me, but there are definitely things I can work on," he said.

So now the question for next season is how does the UF's men's swimming team replace a world-record holder who has already tasted Olympic gold?

"You don't replace Ryan Lochte," Coach Gregg Troy said. "The bottom line is he is the best swimmer to graduate from UF."

Troy is going to rely on more than just Ally to fill Lochte's goggles.

UF will try to go international to fill the void.

Shaune Fraser of the Cayman Islands will join Ally.

At Bolles prep school, Fraser broke records in the 100-meter freestyle division, 200 butterfly and 500-yard freestyle all in the 17-18 age division. He also represented the Cayman Islands in the 2004 Athens Olympics.

Bolles assistant coach Martin Zubero said Fraser is very versatile and was the go-to-guy for Bolles.

Omar Pinzon, one of Fraser's teammates, will also join him at UF. Pinzon competed for Colombia in the 2004 Olympics and at 16 won the 200-yard backstroke at the U.S. National Championships.

"They are both good," Zubero said. "How far they take it, who knows?"

Zubero, a former UF swimmer and a Spanish Olympian, believes the Gators train for international meets harder than any other university, an aspect that appealed to both Pinzon and Fraser.

UF went across the Atlantic to find its last foreign signee, Hungary's Roland Rudolf.

Fraser, Pinzon and Rudolf will join a team already rich with diversity and Olympians.

Ally competed for Barbados, sophomore Darian Townsend was a member of the South African team and sophomore J.B. Walsh represented the Philippines in Athens.

Olympian or not, having a sibling on the team can't hurt either.

Incoming freshmen Clark Burckle, Kyle Coan and Peter Hughes will each join a sibling in the water.

Burckle will swim at the same school as sister Caroline, a UF sophomore; Coan with his brother, Matt, a junior; and Hughes with his brother, Tim, a sophomore.

"[There's] nothing better than having siblings come in and be able to follow brother or sister and do a great job and be part of the Gator tradition," Troy said.

Despite all the new faces in the fall, a veteran will still be a fixture in the background.

Lochte plans on training in Gainesville, Fla., and offering encouragement and mentoring to the younger athletes, including Ally.

"Any way I can help the team, I'll do it," he said.

Lochte will try to make an impression on UF's new generation of swimmers just as he has on Ally.

He said he and Ally go out to dinner once or twice a week to discuss a variety of topics.

Ally describes their relationship as "brother-like."

"He taught me how to race," he said.

Despite the loss of his aquatic sibling, Ally believes the team will be as good, if not better next year.

Troy echoes that sentiment. He said that the lineup -- sans Lochte -- has the potential to score even more points.

So who knows what's in store for the Gators?

"Maybe one of these guys becomes Ryan Lochte," Troy said.

Reprinted With Permission from Independent Florida Alligator