Shelley Taylor-Smith (born 3 August 1961) is a former Australian long-distance swimmer. Born in

Perth, Western Australia Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...

, Taylor-Smith suffered from scoliosis, an abnormal curvature of the spine, throughout her school years. The condition required her to wear a

back brace A back brace is a device designed to limit the motion of the spine in cases of bone fracture or in post-operative spinal fusiona, as well as a preventative measure against some progressive conditions or to correct patient posture. Common back br ...

, although she was successful in national age group swimming competitions. While on a swimming scholarship to the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkansas ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, the heavy training regime caused a lower-body paralysis. During her recovery, her coach noticed that her swimming improved at greater distances, and encouraged her to take up marathon swimming, a sport which would also allow her to avoid potentially back-damaging

tumble turn A tumble turn or flip turn is one of the turns in swimming, used to reverse the direction in which the person is swimming. It is done when the swimmer reaches the end of the swimming pool but still has one or more lengths to swim. The technique ...

s. Taylor-Smith's first major achievement was breaking the world four-mile record in 1983. Subsequently, she won the Manhattan Island Marathon Swim five times, breaking the world record in 1995 for swimming the 48 km distance in five hours, 45 minutes and 25 seconds. She also won the Australian Marathon Swimming Championships three times, and seven consecutive

FINA FINA (french: Fédération internationale de natation, en, International Swimming Federation, link=yes) (to be renamed as World Aquatics by ) is the international federation recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for administer ...

Marathon World Cups. She won a gold medal in the inaugural

open water swimming Open water swimming is a swimming discipline which takes place in outdoor bodies of water such as open oceans, lakes, and rivers. The beginning of the modern age of open water swimming is sometimes taken to be May 3, 1810, when Lord Byron swam s ...

event at the

1991 World Aquatics Championships The 1991 World Aquatics Championships took place at the Claremont Superdrome in Perth, Western Australia from 3 to 13 January 1991 with 1142 participating athletes. Medal table Medal summary Diving ;Men ;Women Open water swimming ; ...

in Perth, and a bronze at the 1994 Championships in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. Her autobiography, ''Dangerous When Wet: The Shelley Taylor-Smith Story'' () was published in 1996. In 1998, Taylor-Smith was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome after prolonged exposure to polluted water and ''

Giardia lamblia ''Giardia duodenalis'', also known as ''Giardia intestinalis'' and ''Giardia lamblia'', is a flagellated parasitic microorganism of the genus '' Giardia'' that colonizes the small intestine, causing a diarrheal condition known as giardiasis. ...

'' infection, and was given six months to live. She nonetheless went on to win her fifth consecutive Manhattan Island marathon, and then retired from swimming. Taylor-Smith currently lives in Perth, where she works as a motivational speaker for her company, Champion Mindset. In 1997,

Transperth Transperth is the brand name of the public transport system serving the city and suburban areas of Perth, the state capital of Western Australia. It is managed by the Public Transport Authority (PTA), a state government organisation. Train op ...

named a ferry the '' MV Shelley Taylor-Smith''.New Perth ferry to be named after Shelley Taylor-Smith
Premier of Western Australia 18 August 1997

References

External links

Champion Mindset
(Shelley Taylor-Smith's motivational speaking company) {{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor-Smith, Shelley 1961 births Living people People with chronic fatigue syndrome Australian female swimmers Female long-distance swimmers Australian motivational speakers Swimmers from Perth, Western Australia World Aquatics Championships medalists in open water swimming Australian long-distance swimmers Manhattan Island swimmers Sportswomen from Western Australia

See also

References

External links