If you are a sports fan, you have surely been patiently waiting to find out if Olympic Gold Medalist Michael Phelps could defeat a great white shark in a race. (Heavy sarcasm)
On Sunday night, the Discovery Channel aired “Phelps vs. Shark: Great Gold vs. Great White” which featured something which has never been seen before. (At least that we are aware of). That’s right, a human being was going to attempt to beat a great white shark in a swimming race.
According to Odds Shark, an online betting site, Phelps had his work cut out for him heading into the race as the great white was listed as a -550 favorite while Phelps was +325.
Though the show was taped ahead of time, those involved kept their lips sealed about who the winner of the race was. Note: Phelps and the shark each swam 100 meters in the same open water but according to Rolling Stone, “Phelps made it clear that he and the shark were not in the water at the same time.”
“We’re not in the water at the same exact time,” Phelps explained. “That’s the one thing we wanted everyone to know — I was safe. I had 12 to 14 divers underneath me when we were doing the race. When you have an animal this size, you want to be able to see how fast they swim. It’s tough to go into their territory and be able to swim as fast as they do, right?”
Well, the wait is over and the winner is…The Great White Shark!
https://twitter.com/SInow/status/889289612711088129
Phelps was able to hang in there for a while but in the end, the shark was just too much for the Olympic Champion to overcome.
Prior to racing the shark, Phelps had the opportunity to check out a great white up close and personal while he was in a cage in the water.
From Rolling Stone:
“When we were in the cage, as soon as I first got in, I felt both sides of the cage kind of moving back and forth, and I was like ‘Oh my gosh, we’re really getting bit, the cage is shaking,'” Phelps said on Good Morning America. “They didn’t look that big underwater. I guess now seeing the video, they were pretty massive sharks. I had one, like I was saying, literally come right up to my nose, and it was crazy.”
Now that you have what you came for, get out of here and go on with your life!
