When Phelps vs. Shark was announced, people were just abuzz with possibilities on how they'd showcase it. Would they have them isolated in different lanes and swimming against each other? Would they show Phelps and then the shark? Could we get impossibly lucky and have a high stakes "Phelps swims for his life as shark tries to eat him?" Well, it turns out the answer to all of these questions was "no, stop being ridiculous, it's a digital shark." For the record, Phelps lost to the simulation.
Michael Phelps lost a 100 meter race to what was billed as a great white, but some viewers were disappointed in the fake shark: pic.twitter.com/YuyUEMpS60
— CBS News (@CBSNews) July 24, 2017
Discovery played this whole thing weirdly under wraps, and now it's pretty clear why. Phelps vs. Shark wasn't Phelps vs. Shark as much as it was "look at how fast Michael Phelps is and then take our word on how fast sharks are." Sure, it was more scientific than that, but as someone that wanted to see Phelps swimming for his life (nothing against Phelps, I'd watch that no matter who it was), I felt like Ralphie when he decoded a message telling him to drink more Ovalteen. Clearly I wasn't the only one in that state of mind.
Turns out “Michael Phelps races a shark” was really just “Michael Phelps swims alone and then compares his time to a shark’s time.”
— Gary Parrish (@GaryParrishCBS) July 24, 2017
Every swimmer watching Phelps vs Shark pic.twitter.com/3hTUXqf7QK
— MICHA🅴L (@MikeClydeMadeIt) July 24, 2017
Call me crazy but I thought they were gonna put Phelps up against a real shark not a simulation. I feel robbed. #SharkWeek #PhelpsVsShark pic.twitter.com/XgdEphkl6m
— Meg Conley (@MegDownSouth) July 24, 2017
Phelps lost to a digital shark. #SharkWeek #PhelpsVsShark pic.twitter.com/mHQeiUws75
— Joe C. (@HeyJoeC) July 24, 2017
America's collective disappointment when we realized that #PhelpsVsShark is all just science and simulations: pic.twitter.com/bTww7dAWm3
— Lindsey Barr (@simply_lindsey) July 24, 2017
We did, at least, get this amazing shot:
Oh man Phelps vs Shark is delivering. pic.twitter.com/E82nSFLYXB
— Toucher and Rich (@Toucherandrich) July 24, 2017
I will either be talking about phelps vs shark the rest of my life or will be bitterly disappointed for the rest of my days
— Jordan K. Graff (@jkgraff) July 23, 2017
#McGregorVsMayweather, #PhelpsVsShark, #manvsfood. I wonder what's next...
— Barry Keating (@TheBarryKeating) July 24, 2017
Only watched the #PhelpsVsShark video to see if the shark would attack him, only to find out it was a CGI shark.
— Matthew Lewis (@matthewlewis_28) July 24, 2017
This is the race we all expected last night! #SharkWeek #PhelpsVsShark pic.twitter.com/ZqLvtt7Kxt
— Mookie Wilson (@Mookalicious) July 24, 2017
At least we got some action in the totally real, not at all CGI Westeros, which raises another important question: Who at the Discovery Channel thought putting this up against Game of Thrones was a good idea? Although the collective disappointment was real, at least we'll always have our dreams about Phelps swimming from sharks.