Shelley Taylor Smith is a champion - in more ways than one. A multi-world record holder, a feature in the Guinness Book of Records, and a pioneer leader for both women and swimming in world competition. During the early/mid 90s, Shelley was the most dominant sportsperson, over women and men, in open water swimming. She is a national icon; a living legend.
But adversity has always been there alongside the wins. Not just the near death experiences of marathon swimming, but childhood scoliosis, death of her father in her teens, a paralysing injury, and a state of mental and physical exhaustion that brought her to the very edge of life itself.
Shelley has faced recent hardship and, in this very special podcast episode Shelley openly discusses with Ian Freestone her battle with depression, the trauma of a family tragedy and the joy of doing life with others who have shown her what having a caring ‘team’ is all about.
