Career
Born in Perth, Western Australia, Taylor-Smith suffered from scoliosis, an abnormal curvature of the spine, throughout her school years. The condition required her to wear a back brace, although she was successful in national age group swimming competitions. While on a swimming scholarship to the University of Arkansas in the United States, 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 turns".
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 infection, and was given six months to live.
Taylor-Smith currently lives in Perth, where she works as a motivational speaker for her company, Champion Mindset. In 1997, Transperth named a ferry the Move Files Shelley Taylor-Smith.