She swam to raise money for the cardiac care unit at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children, a familiar locale for the Boscariol family. She and two of her five younger siblings have stayed at Sick Kids, including her four-year-old sister Sophia, who had a successful heart operation there in July.

In 2009, when a friend from Boscariol’s swim team mentioned the story of Marilyn Bell — the first person to ever swim across Lake Ontario — Boscariol decided she wanted to emulate the accomplishment.

Her mother, however, wasn’t so anxious to have her then-14-year-old daughter swim more than 50 km.

“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.”

Boscariol’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 Boscariol, who will enter Grade 12 at St. Augustine's in September.

“It’s a lot on both my family and me to organize and train," she said before her swim. "It’s a really big commitment.”

After two years of waiting, Boscariol’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, Boscariol began to train in lakes. Up until the swim, she trained daily, putting in about 20 hours of swimming every week. She’s backed by nine years of competitive swimming.

In late July, Boscariol 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 provided a swim master, or personal trainer, to help Boscariol complete her swim.

This swim master, along with more than a dozen other volunteers, joined Boscariol when she first stepped into the water at about 8:45 p.m. on Aug. 5 in Niagara-on-the-Lake. The volunteers, including Boscariol’s parents, monitored her swim from four different boats. During the swim, Boscariol was not allowed to touch any of the boats or volunteers, and was fed by a stick extending from one of the boats.

Boscariol arrived at Marilyn Bell Park in Toronto around noon the next day, duplicating the route of Bell, who completed the swim in 1954 when she was 16.

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

Boscariol 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.”

Boscariol’s swim, with its extensive preparation, has kept the Boscariol family from having a “normal summer” thus far. But while the attention that Boscariol has received this past year might cause some bitterness among her siblings, her mother 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, she 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 Boscariol.

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