Shark Week kicked off on Discovery Channel and the big race between Olympian Michael Phelps and a Great White Shark took place. The overall race wasn’t as exciting as advertised as he didn’t actually race a shark at the exact same time. It was all based off time trails but the technology used to even give Phelps a fighting chance was pretty incredible.

Spoiler: He lost but just barely. The most decorated Olympian of all time swam the 100 meter race at a blistering 38.1 seconds — just two seconds less than the great white.

Earlier in the episode, Phelps raced against a hammerhead and a reef Shark to warm up. Phelps beat the reef shark but couldn’t catch the hammerhead.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_FCymQC67E

Filed under: shark-week