Fans left furious over Phelps' race with 'shark'
Michael Phelps' highly-anticipated race with a great white shark has left many viewers with a sour taste in their mouths.
Forget Mayweather-McGregor, the most-anticipated battle of recent times was set for Monday, with Phelps matched up against a great white shark to kick off Discovery Channel's annual "Shark Week."
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Phelps, wearing a monofin on his feet, completed a 100-metre butterfly swim in open water off South Africa to set a time of 38.1 seconds.
But experts calculated that the great white shark could swim the same distance in 36.1, meaning Phelps had to settle for second place.
And fans who expected a side-by-side battle between two of nature's most dominant aquatic creatures found themselves disappointed, as Phelps did not race next to an *actual* great white, but rather a CGI simulation.
As is customary, viewers aired their frustrations over Discovery's bait-and-switch on social media.
"Obviously, we cannot put a great white shark in one lane and Michael Phelps in the other."#SharkWeek pic.twitter.com/w6E4Tl1D5X
— CAR Panthers News (@CarPanthersNews) July 24, 2017
Me when I found out Phelps raced a simulation of shark instead of a real shark #SharkWeek pic.twitter.com/ud1xW6z5I2
— Big Baller (@Matt_Columbia15) July 24, 2017
find me a better metaphor for the state of western civilization than michael phelps losing to a digital simulacrum
— Mina Kimes (@minakimes) July 24, 2017
Don't say Phelps is racing a shark if you're not going to put him against an actual shark #PhelpsVsShark #SharkWeek pic.twitter.com/qy1mlApUiz
— Breyanna Davis (@breyannachenal) July 24, 2017
Me pretending to be ok with Michael Phelps not racing a real shark pic.twitter.com/QnCF98NfBB
— Gabi Palamone (@Yo_Gabi_Gabi__) July 24, 2017
My face when I realized they weren't going to put Michael Phelps in one lane and a shark in the other. #SharkWeek #PhelpsVsShark pic.twitter.com/ffFx32k1Nm
— Brooke Bond (@brookeashleyyb) July 24, 2017
Look, I came here to see Phelps race a shark, not a simulation. The only way to make this up to me is to feed him to the shark #SharkWeek
— Awesome Tasia (@TasiaBass28) July 24, 2017
So you mean to tell me Michael Phelps didn't even race a real shark? It was just a simulation. I'm mad. More like Shark WEAK! pic.twitter.com/gwIGTe7Y9p
— Frank Costa (@feistyfrank) July 24, 2017
When you find out Phelps didn't race a real shark. #SharkWeek pic.twitter.com/uaQb7ZDddA
— D.T. (@Darlene26811165) July 24, 2017
"I don't like taking silver medals, but I’ll take one to a great white," Phelps said afterwards.
"We don't swim in this (the cold ocean), so it basically just shocks our entire body. (The shark is) almost like a bullet."
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