We’ll remember her from the ‘90s as a tall, athletic blonde with a wide, winning smile and an open, accessible personality that wowed the general population as much as the sports community and her adoring fans.

Olympic and World Champion rower Silken Laumann was associated with all the attributes of great sportsmanship: determination, focus and, especially in her case, formidable courage.

Her inspiring comeback from a brutal injury ten month before the 1992 Barcelona Olympics stands today as the greatest recovery in Canadian sports history.

After being written off as finished for all time by the vast majority in the sports media, she fought her way back and was there for the starter’s pistol on Aug. 2, 1992.

It was a race like no other --- a remarkable test of perseverance and human endurance as she willed her way to the finish line to win a bronze medal in a triumph of the human spirit.

She became a symbol of hope for all Canadians and came home to a thunderous welcome and an enduring popularity that still resonates with the mere mention of her name.

Now, in the first TV interview about her autobiography “Unsinkable,” we learn that Laumann has had to overcome many other challenges in her life and careers, some less public but still deeply personal and painful.

We hear about a frightened little girl growing up in a home with a mother, who was frequently found to be emotionally unhinged, and a stoic father who worked hard to present the image of a normal family for their neighbours in Mississauga, Ont..

The mother’s outbursts created an atmosphere of uncertainty that made little Silken wonder what tragedy might befall her and her older sister if their mom had a meltdown during the night.

The all-consuming fear caused her younger brother to keep a knife under his pillow.

While Laumann found her escape through sports, first in running and then in rowing, the deep insecurities that settled in her psyche as a youngster were to surface later in life after the collapse of her first marriage.

Laumann became overwhelmed as she tried to balance her successful career as a motivational speaker and divorced mother of two children.

She takes us through a troubled but fascinating and ultimately fulfilling journey that has brought her to a new understanding of her past.

Laumann seems to have found a sense of inner calm that eluded her through the years and better allows her to cope with the kind of challenges we all face on our own rivers of life.

The “Unsinkable Silken” - still an inspiration.

Watch the full W5 report Saturday night on CTV. Check local listings.