Michelle Smith de Bruin was born on 16 December 1969 and is an Irish lawyer and retired Olympic swimmer.
23 Facts About Michelle Smith
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Michelle Smith was later banned for four years by FINA, the international swimming federation, for manipulation of an anti-doping sample by deliberate contamination with alcohol, a decision upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport when Michelle Smith appealed.
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Michelle Smith's father taught his daughters how to swim, and Smith was first spotted by a lifeguard in Tallaght swimming pool at age nine.
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Michelle Smith suggested that Smith's father enroll his daughter in a swimming club.
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Michelle Smith joined Terenure Swimming Club and trained under the tutelage of Larry Williamson.
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Michelle Smith won the Dublin and All-Ireland Community Games at aged 9.
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Michelle Smith won ten gold medals at a novice competition.
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Michelle Smith enrolled in the King's Hospital Swimming Club in 1980.
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At aged 14, Michelle Smith won ten medals at the Irish National Swimming Championships.
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Michelle Smith first appeared on the world scene as an 18-year-old at the Seoul Olympics and narrowly missed the B-final in the 200 m backstroke.
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Michelle Smith competed at the 1991 European Championships and qualified for the 1992 Olympic Games.
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Michelle Smith won three gold medals and a bronze medal in Atlanta.
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Michelle Smith applied for the event after she had arrived in Atlanta.
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At a later conference, Evans highlighted that accusations of Michelle Smith doping had been heard by her poolside.
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Michelle Smith appealed the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
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Michelle Smith's case was heard by a panel of three sport lawyers, including Michael Beloff QC.
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FINA submitted evidence from Jordi Segura, head of the IOC-accredited laboratory in Barcelona, that Michelle Smith took androstenedione, a metabolic precursor of testosterone, in the previous 10-to-12 hours before being tested.
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Michelle Smith denied this and androstenedione was not a banned substance.
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Michelle Smith was 28 at the time and the ban effectively ended her competitive swimming career.
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Michelle Smith was not stripped of her Olympic medals as she had never tested positive for any banned substances.
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Michelle Smith is a specialist in private international law, the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments, EU law, and the law applicable to disputes following Brexit.
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In 2007, Michelle Smith appeared on Celebrities Go Wild, an RTE reality television show in which eight celebrities had to fend for themselves in the wilds of rural Connemara.
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In 1993 Michelle Smith began training with Dutch discus thrower Erik de Bruin, whom she had met in Barcelona.