Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps raced a shark as part of Discovery Channel’s Shark Week and lost.
This just in: Michael Phelps is beatable. The 28-time Olympic medalist raced against a shark on Sunday night as part of Discovery Channel’s Shark Week.
Phelps raced against a great white shark as part of the special “Phelps vs. Shark: Great Gold vs. Great White.” However, the race was as real as Sharknado as Phelps didn’t race an actual shark. He raced a simulated one.
The Olympic swimmer swam alone, time trial style, and when the race was shown he was matched with a computer-generated shark that simulated a real shark’s speed, according to Victor Mather of the New York Times.
So wait a minute. Did Phelps race an actual shark? All of the hype about this race was about Phelps racing a shark and he didn’t even race one. We got robbed. What the hell, Discovery Channel? Why didn’t you have Phelps race an actual shark? Was it because u thought it might attack him?
“Clearly, we can’t put Michael in one lane and a shark in the far lane. We have to do simulation,” Dr. Tristan Guttridge told Samantha Schnurr of E! News. “We’ll use our speed data that we’ve [collected] in all our testing.”
“The whole point is to get people excited about sharks,” Laurie Goldberg, a spokeswoman for Discovery Channel told Mather. “The idea was, is it possible to get the world’s greatest swimmer competitive with a shark? In the first two minutes of the show, we make it clear we were not going to make it side by side.”
The shark ended up winning the race even though Phelps was faster than the shark. The Olympic swimmer even demanded a rematch.
Rematch? Next time..warmer water. #SW30 @Discovery @SharkWeek
— Michael Phelps (@MichaelPhelps) July 24, 2017
Phelps wasn’t the only one the wasn’t happy after the race as fans tweeted their frustration that Phelps didn’t race an actual shark.
You really thought he was gonna race a great white shark in open water? REALLY? I'd have rather seen @MichaelPhelps race @leftshark
— Cane Peterson (@TheCaneShow) July 24, 2017
I blame @MichaelPhelps and #SharkGate for @Microsoft's decision to kill Paint. #2017 #DicksOutForMSPaint
— Joe Walton (@JoeWalton89) July 24, 2017
Are y'all telling me that Michael Phelps didn't race a shark on the show where the whole premise was "Michael Phelps races a shark?"
— Ian ? (@CribbinsMH) July 24, 2017
https://twitter.com/rriverrphoenixx/status/889593823776714753
Just heard the @MichaelPhelps #SharkWeek race was against a digital shark? Nig, when you say you're gonna race a shark… you race a shark.
— Victor Moran (@VictorMoranLive) July 24, 2017
Michael Phelps race against a computer generated shark will go down as one of TV's most hyped flops. #gullibleTVviewers
— PhantomAcct (@phantomacct) July 24, 2017
https://twitter.com/HannahGBowen/status/889292068127899650
phelps racing a fake shark is like when ur teacher says there's gonna be a sub but shows up the next day
— じ? (@reqnna) July 24, 2017
Michael Phelps has been hyping up that he's going to race a shark for months now. He did it tonight and it was a damn CGI shark #FakeNews
— Cole Hill (@theSwoleCole) July 24, 2017
My friend was genuinely upset when I told her Phelps' shark was CGI lol
— tamale mami (@emyrosa) July 24, 2017
YOU SAID HE WOULD FACE A SHARK, NOT A CGI SHARK
— Cindy (@ESPNCindy) July 24, 2017
Call me crazy but I thought they were gonna put Phelps up against a real shark not a simulation. I feel robbed. #SharkWeek #PhelpsVsShark pic.twitter.com/XgdEphkl6m
— Meg Conley (@MegDownSouth) July 24, 2017
https://twitter.com/jkoz19/status/889288789927088128
Waited an hour for Michael Phelps to race a CGI shark.
Discovery is receiving a strongly worded letter fur sure.
— Jerod Breth (@PhreshBreth) July 24, 2017
I was so disappointed when I found out that Phelps didn't actually race against a great white ? #SharkWeek
— Danielle Rae (@dxnirxe) July 24, 2017
IT WAS A FAKE SHARK. Phelps raced a fake shark….and lost.
I feel cheated #SharkWeek2017 pic.twitter.com/nEABV6PRNZ— Jessica Morrey (@JessicaMorrey) July 24, 2017
#Spoiler #PhelpsVShark was essentially 58 minutes of fishing for sharks & 38 seconds of #Phelps in the water LOSING to a CGI #Shark. ???
— James Campbell (@WHOtheFisJC) July 24, 2017
https://twitter.com/rmejia08/status/889291440144232450
So Discovery Channel, how about u have Phelps race an actual shark? You owe us that.
