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Michael Phelps loses TV race against Great White Shark

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WENN

Olympic swimming champ Michael Phelps has proposed a rematch after losing a simulated race to a Great White shark.

The top athlete put his speed to the test as part of a pre-taped stunt for the Discovery Channel’s annual Shark Week event in the U.S., which featured Phelps racing along a 100 meter (328 feet) stretch of water in the Bahamas.

He wore a specially-equipped wetsuit with a fin to mimic a shark’s movements underwater, and completed the feat in 38.1 seconds – but he was no match for the Great White, which raced to the finish line two seconds faster.

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Taking to Twitter after the special aired on Sunday night (23Jul17), Phelps wrote, “Rematch? Next time..warmer water.”

The stunt had been heavily hyped as a ‘man versus beast’ challenge, and although Discovery Channel officials had previously mentioned Phelps wouldn’t actually be racing side by side with the predator, some viewers were left disappointed after realizing the movements of the big fish had been simulated, with scientists using data about the shark’s speed to create the footage. The film was then superimposed over the clip of Phelps in the water to create the ‘race’ aspect of the show.

Addressing the social media complaints, a Discovery Channel spokesperson tells RollingStone.com, “All the promotion, interviews and the program itself made clear that the challenge wasn’t a side by side race. During Michael’s pre-show promotion, as well as within the first two minutes of ‘Phelps vs. Shark,’ this message was clear.”

Phelps had recently explained one of the difficulties of trying to set up a real race with a shark, telling U.S. breakfast show Good Morning America: “Trying to get a (Great) White, for example, to swim up to 25 miles-per-hour in a straight mile can be tough…”

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