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24th Jul 2017

Viewers were expecting far too much when Michael Phelps raced a shark

Shark Week is underway

Darragh Murphy

So does the CGI shark get all those gold medals now?

It turns out that those extra years in the water really paid off for the shark who was matched up with Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of all time.

The proud owner of 28 Olympic medals (23 gold, 3 silver, 2 bronze), Phelps put his speed to the test when he went head-to-head with a Great White shark to kick off the Discovery Channel’s annual Shark Week coverage.

The race was promoted as a fascinating battle of two swimming machines and viewers were finally treated to the surprisingly competitive contest on Sunday night.

SPOILER ALERT: The shark was victorious.

Phelps’ gut-busting effort was measured against the top speed of a shark, which was recorded and then assigned to a computer-simulated shark that was digitally generated and shown alongside Phelps.

What kind of shit is that?

You mean to tell us that Phelps wasn’t actually put side-by-side with an actual shark at the starting blocks and that both creatures didn’t adhere to the start buzzer?

That’s not what we signed up for and it’s not what this disappointed group of Twitter-users were expecting either as they voiced their dismay about the nature of the race.