Among people American swimmer Michael Phelps is long gone equal, so 23 times the athlete competed in the swim for 100 metres to the main ocean predator — the white shark.
The race took place off the coast of South Africa, in the waters of South Africa and was shown in the framework of the program «Shark Week» on the «Discovery Channel».
According to National Geographic, sharks can move at a speed of 15 miles per hour. However, a great white shark at short distances is capable of speeds around 25-35 mph. Therefore, to increase the chances of an athlete to succeed, Phelps was dressed in a special suit and he used an artificial fin, which was supposed to help him swim like a shark. But in the end even these «bonuses» Phelps ‘ maximum speed in open water was 6 mph.
The moment of glory for #TeamShark!!! #PhelpsVsShark #SharkWeek pic.twitter.com/NWYp1CwiRa
— Shark Week (@SharkWeek) July 24, 2017
«The moment of glory for #TeamShark. Phelps vs shark!».
The shark is finished in 36.1 seconds. Michael Phelps lagged behind the opponent for 2 seconds exactly, expected defeated. After the competition, the celebrated swimmer in his Twitter wrote: «Revenge? Next time… the water warmer».
Rematch? Next time..warmer water. #SW30 @Discovery @SharkWeek
— Michael Phelps (@MichaelPhelps) July 24, 2017
«Revenge? Next time… in the water a little warmer.».
It should be noted that the participants went the distance apart from each other. Then on the «Discovery» video from the two heats combined for clarity, so the audience thought that the man and the shark swim very close. And when it learned the audience, many of them were disappointed with a race, because I thought that Phelps will meet with the mighty opponent face to face.
Michael Phelps is the only one in the history of sport 23-time Olympic champion (13 times — individual distances, 10 — in relays), a 26-time world champion in the 50-meter pool, multiple world record holder. An absolute record for the number of awards (28) in the history of the Olympic games.
