“Oh, good grief,” said Melanie Boscariol, recalling her first reaction when her daughter brought up the idea, admitting her reservations. “There was a good two years where we basically said no.”

Rebekah’s parents wanted to make sure it wasn’t simply an impulse, and made her wait. Their daughter’s maturity and determination, however, made it clear that wasn’t the case.

“I knew that my mom would make me wait,” said Rebekah, who will enter grade 12 at Markham’s St. Augustine Catholic High School in September. “It’s a lot on both my family and me to organize and train. It’s a really big commitment.”

After two years of waiting, Rebekah’s excitement hadn’t faded, and her persistence finally paid off. Her parents gave her the okay, and from there, the whole family was on board.

In May, Rebekah began to train in lakes. Since then, she’s been training daily, putting in about 20 hours of swimming every week. She’s backed by nine years of competitive swimming.

In late July, Rebekah completed a 16 km mandatory trial swim with Solo Swims of Ontario (SSO), a volunteer organization that organizes and oversees all Lake Ontario distance swims. SSO also provides a swim master, or personal trainer, to help aspirants complete their swim.

This swim master, along with more than a dozen other volunteers, will join Rebekah when she first steps into the water on the evening of Aug. 5 in Niagara-on-the-Lake. The volunteers, including Rebekah’s parents, will monitor her swim from four different boats. According to SSO regulations, Rebekah is not allowed to touch any of the boats or volunteers, and can be fed only by a stick extending from one of the boats.

The swim, which Rebekah hopes to finish in about 20 hours, ends at Marilyn Bell Park, duplicating the route of Bell, who completed the swim in 1954 when she was 16. Imitating Bell’s achievement is exciting but nevertheless frightening, said Rebekah, especially when she thinks about swimming in the cold dark water during the night.

“She’s a pretty big role model,” said Rebekah, “so it’s cool to be able to do what she did.”

Rebekah is also an example in her own right, said her mother.

“She’s a great role model for (her siblings),” said Melanie, admitting, “I’m not sure that they realize that right now.”

Rebekah’s swim, with its extensive preparation, has kept the Boscariol family from having a “normal summer” thus far. But while the attention that Rebekah has received this past year might cause some bitterness among her siblings, Melanie is sure that as they grow up, they’ll come to admire their sister. And just as long as they don’t all want to swim across Lake Ontario, Melanie is glad about that.

“It means everything… you really can’t do it without family support, support from my team and support from everyone,” said Rebekah.

To support Rebekah’s goal of raising $20,000 for SickKids, or for more information, visit www.swimthedistance.com.