What did you do over summer vacation?

When that question is posed to Tancrede Roythis fall, the sixth-grader will have quite a story to share with his classmates at the Kingsley Montessori School.

On July 27, Roy became one of the youngest swimmers to cross the Strait of Messina, a channel of water between the island of Sicily and the Italian peninsula. He accomplished the feat in 1 hour and 7 minutes — not bad for an 11-year-old.

Roy’s parents, Stephen and Isabelle Roy, accompanied him in the water over the course of the journey, which was a little over 2 miles.

“He got in the water and he didn’t stop until he got to the other side,’’ said Stephen Roy.

To prepare for the adventure, the Back Bay resident trained on and off for a year, doing laps at the MIT pool and swimming in Boston Harbor with his mother.

On the day of his swim, the conditions were good and the water temperature was 75 degrees. Roy successfully made his way past the currents and cross-currents in the middle of the channel, and continued swimming through waves until he reached his destination.

In addition to attaining his goal, Roy raised $16,500 for an Italian charity that serves developmentally challenged children, and the Italian coast guard presented him with a medal to commemorate his achievement.