CONDITIONS PERMITTING, 15 yr old Caledon resident Jade Scognamillo will take to the water in an attempt to be the youngest and fastest to cross Lake Ontario starting on Thursday night and finishing up some 20 hours later at Marilyn Bell Park in Toronto. Photo/MIKE MALONEY She is a girl inspired by the past with a sense of purpose and determination.

For 15-year-old Caledon resident Jade Scognamillo, those qualities and a passion for life, community, and the chance to prove any dream can be realized, will be driving her on as — conditions permitting — she enters Lake Ontario on Thursday night to begin her quest to become the youngest and hopefully fastest solo-swimmer to cross Lake Ontario.

Inspired by Marilyn Bell, who was the first to accomplish the feat in 1954, Scognamillo has been been pursuing the dream for a number of years.

She has already made a name for herself in the water, setting the record for youngest and fastest swim across Lake Erie in 2008.

In preparation for the crossing, Scognamillo has been training up to six hours a day, many of those hours spent in the icy waters of a quarry in Caledon. She recently battled two-metre-high waves in completing an 18-km. open water trial swim along the shore of Lake Ontario.

Originally born in Britain, Scognamillo will be officially be making the swim as a Canadian citizen after being awarded her Canadian citizenship in a special ceremony on Canada day 2009 by local MP David Tilson.

Scheduled to take to the water at 8 p.m. on Thursday night in Niagara-on-the-Lake, she will have to overcome a number of factors including the cold, currents and possibly her biggest challenge - swimming in the darkness as she makes her way across the 52-km. route to Marilyn Bell Park in Toronto where she plans to complete the trip some approximately 20 hours later.

Scognamillo is also dedicating her swim to Sick Kids Hospital and hopes to raise over $35,000 by way of donations for her efforts towards an purchasing an infant incubator.

Anyone wishing more information on Scognamillo, the swim, or to donate to Sick Kids, can do so on her website www.swim4life.startlogic. com