Sheppard was born in
Gdańsk, Poland. She took up fencing when she was ten— her sister
Irena is also a fencer, specializing in
sabre, and took part in the
2008 Summer Olympics. Natalia herself won the Polish national foil championships several times Sheppard finished the
2011–12 season World No.35, a career best . After the London Games Sheppard joined the British Fencing World Class Programme to prepare for the
2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. ==References==