The most successful Olympian of all time was no match for one of the world’s most feared animals when the two were pitched against each other to kick off the Discovery Channel’s Shark Week.
Michael Phelps swam a 100m stretch of warm Bahamas water in 38.1 seconds but lost out by two seconds to a great white shark swimming the same course.
The American swimmer is the world record holder for 100m and 200m butterfly as well as 400m individual medley. He was even specially equipped with a wetsuit and monofin to mimic a shark’s movement through water.
However, it also became apparent, that the race was actually a simulation and that Phelps was in fact competing against a computer-generated image of a shark based on a projection of its speed.
He completed the course in 38.1 seconds compared to the shark’s time of 36.1.