Michael Phelps Raced CGI Sharks and Fans Found It Fishy

Olympic gold medalist faces off against great white, hammerhead and reef sharks

By Samantha Schnurr Jul 24, 2017 1:17 PMTags
Michael Phelps, 2016 Rio Summer OlympicsClive Rose/Getty Images

Michael Phelps put his best fin foot forward, but he's still in a bit of hot water. 

The most decorated Olympian of all time faced his greatest challenge yet when he decided to race three different sharks in honor of Shark Week. For the Discovery Channel special Phelps vs Shark: Great Gold vs Great White aired on Sunday, the 32-year-old gold medalist traded in a pool for the colder coast of Cape Town, South Africa to test his award-winning speed. 

In order to more fairly compete with the sea creatures, Phelps swam with a monofin, which would help him simulate the style of a shark. While they did try to level the racing field as much as possible, viewers took issue with the fact that the athlete wasn't actually racing next to the sharks. As had been revealed prior to the special, Phelps would face off against sharks superimposed next to him with the help of CGI technology.  

"Clearly, we can't put Michael in one lane and a shark in the far lane. We have to do simulation," Dr. Tristan Guttridge explained. "We'll use our speed data that we've [collected] in all our testing."

photos
Every Time Michael Phelps Has Won an Olympic Gold Medal

So, how did those speeds compare? He managed to swim 50 meters in 18.7 seconds, outpacing the reef shark by 0.2 seconds, but trailing behind the hammerhead, who finished in 15.1 seconds. As for the great white, in a 100-meter race, Phelps finished only two seconds behind and, at times, was swimming faster. However, the cold proved to be almost as challenging as the shark itself. 

"Before I dove in, I knew how cold it was going to be, and I knew that for me, as a swimmer, we don't swim in this, and it basically just shocked your entire body," he said. "I have this little tiny wetsuit on, so it's absolutely freezing."

Despite his impressive performance, fans honed in on the fact that Phelps was racing his opponents from across an ocean. 

"THERE'S NOT ACTUALLY GOING TO BE A SHARK NEXT TO HIM I QUIT IT'S ALL BEEN A LIE," one viewer quipped on Twitter. "Call me crazy but I thought they were gonna put Phelps up against a real shark not a simulation. I feel robbed," another remarked. 

Nevertheless, while Phelps usually goes for the gold, we'd say silver is just as impressive—especially when up against a great white. 

Meanwhile, after the reactions on social media, the Discovery Channel released the following statement:

"In PHELPS VS SHARK we enlisted world class scientists to take up the challenge of making the world's greatest swimmer competitive with a Great White. The show took smart science and technology to make the challenge more accessible and fun. All the promotion, interviews and the program itself made clear that the challenge wasn't a side by side race. During Michael's pre-show promotion, as well as within the first 2 minutes of PHELPS VS SHARK, this message was clear and we are thrilled with the audience and the engagement around the world."