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People think Michael Phelps nearly lost his life in race against 'great white shark' before realising truth

Home> News> Sport

Published 16:16 24 Jul 2024 GMT+1

People think Michael Phelps nearly lost his life in race against 'great white shark' before realising truth

Like they were going to chuck Michael Phelps into the water with an actual shark...

Joe Harker

Joe Harker

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In a devastating reminder to all those guys who think of life-threatening situations and reckon they'd probably be OK, not even history's most-decorated swimmer could outpace a shark.

2017 was a simpler time where people loved to wonder who would win in a battle between man and shark in the shark's natural habitat.

So of course the solution was to put Michael Phelps, who has 28 Olympic medals, into the water for a race against a great white shark.

Could the world's most successful swimmer stay ahead of the jaws of a great white shark that was playing on home turf?

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Absolutely f**king not, obviously.

If you think you could out-swim a shark you seriously need to have a look at yourself.

If he can't out-swim a shark then what hope have you got? (YouTube/Discovery)
If he can't out-swim a shark then what hope have you got? (YouTube/Discovery)

Discovery put the race on, with Phelps donning a wetsuit with a fin in an attempt to even the odds a little bit in the 100 metre race.

The swimmer's all-time record to swim 100 metres was 47.51 seconds, but with the special wetsuit and fin on he posted a very respectable time of 38.1 seconds.

Some people watching the show thought that Phelps might have been in serious danger of being gobbled up by the shark, which posted a time of 36.1 seconds.

"Man I'm stupid," one viewer declared as they commented that they actually thought that Phelps was going to be racing a great white shark, when actually it was just a computer recreation of one.

Others 'thought the CGI shark ate Phelps for a second', while plenty couldn't believe how folks had actually managed to be duped.

"Come on people, you can't put a human and a shark side by side in the ocean, otherwise the shark would eat Michael," they said.

Shark beats human, because of course it does in the sea. (YouTube/Discovery)
Shark beats human, because of course it does in the sea. (YouTube/Discovery)

Of course the shark was simulated and still handily beat Phelps, while many more pointed out that this race was only ever going to go one way since a shark could go much faster than a human.

A great white shark can reach speeds of up to 56km/h, while the Olympic swimmer can only really get to 7.6km/h.

On the other hand, sharks rarely swim in a straight line and would prefer to zig-zag.

If you actually tried to race a human and a shark then the shark would almost certainly win if it locked in and tried its best.

Fortunately for Phelps and all the people duped by a CGI shark, he was never in any real danger.

Featured Image Credit: YouTube/Discovery

Topics: Olympics, Sport, Sharks

Joe Harker
Joe Harker

Joe graduated from the University of Salford with a degree in Journalism and worked for Reach before joining the LADbible Group. When not writing he enjoys the nerdier things in life like painting wargaming miniatures and chatting with other nerds on the internet. He's also spent a few years coaching fencing. Contact him via [email protected]

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@MrJoeHarker

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