Michael Phelps Disappoints Against Great White Shark
The highly anticipated race between U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps and a great white shark has left fans utterly disappointed.
When news first broke out that the Olympic legend would be racing a great white shark for Discovery's Shark Week, there was much skepticism about the whole idea. Surely, no one in their right mind would be bold enough to actually swim against a great white, the undisputed terror of the ocean, right? Well, apart from Phelps that is.
Phelps has had an illustrious career as a swimmer bringing home much honor to the country and becoming the most decorated Olympian of all time with 28 medals, 23 of which are gold. If there was anyone who is capable of racing a shark, it would definitely be the 32-year-old athlete. So even if people were skeptical, the idea itself brought in the hype.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
Dubbed as "Phelps vs. Shark: The Battle for Ocean Supremacy" the event was billed as "The Great White Shark meets the Greatest of All Time." But when Discovery aired the episode last Sunday, viewers got the disappointment of their lives.
Phelps did race a great white shark albeit a computer-generated one. This has definitely left fans who took the time to watch the episode upset. They were expecting to see the Olympic swimmer swim against a real great white shark in open water but instead they had gotten a computer simulation. Well, at least now everyone knows that not even the greatest Olympian would dare to swim against the biggest predator of the ocean.
The so-called 100-meter race simulation ended with the shark on top which ran the length in 36.1 seconds while Phelps ended two seconds behind at 38.1.
As disappointing as it may be, the episode still produced a realistic ending because while Phelps may be one of the fastest swimmers alive, he could only manage to reach a top speed of five to six meters per hour while great white sharks are known to reach 25 meters per hour in short bursts, BBC reported.
Phelps instantly took to Twitter, suggesting a do over.
