Did Michael Phelps actually race a shark last night? Not quite.
The most highly publicized special for this year’s Shark Week was “Phelps vs. Shark,“ which kicked off the week-long celebration just last night. The special promised a race between Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps and a shark, but most viewers were left confused and angry when it failed to deliver as promised.
Granted, I’m not sure anyone actually expected that Michael Phelps would be thrown into the water with a shark, but what we got last night was a simulation featuring Phelps swimming alongside, well, nothing at all. A computer-generated shark was added into the water in post-production, allowing us to see what such a race *could* look like.
Yes, it was basically Phelps up against a shark from a Syfy movie. Sigh.
[Related] Here’s the Full “Shark Week” 2017 Schedule
The 100-meter race (dubbed “the battle for ocean supremacy”) was won by the CGI shark, beating Phelps by just two seconds. If you missed it, you can watch below.
