![People think Michael Phelps nearly lost his life in race against 'great white shark' before realising truth](https://images.ladbible.com/resize?type=webp&quality=70&width=3840&fit=contain&gravity=auto&url=https://images.ladbiblegroup.com/v3/assets/bltcd74acc1d0a99f3a/blt6aab65d8c63b0962/66a10c9e1d4f4c68cdf821fc/shark-michael-phelps.png)
In a devastating reminder to all those guys who think of life-threatening situations and reckon they'd probably be OK, not even history's most-decorated swimmer could outpace a shark.
2017 was a simpler time where people loved to wonder who would win in a battle between man and shark in the shark's natural habitat.
So of course the solution was to put Michael Phelps, who has 28 Olympic medals, into the water for a race against a great white shark.
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Could the world's most successful swimmer stay ahead of the jaws of a great white shark that was playing on home turf?
Absolutely f**king not, obviously.
If you think you could out-swim a shark you seriously need to have a look at yourself.
![If he can't out-swim a shark then what hope have you got? (YouTube/Discovery)](https://images.ladbible.com/resize?type=webp&quality=70&width=3840&fit=contain&gravity=auto&url=https://images.ladbiblegroup.com/v3/assets/bltcd74acc1d0a99f3a/bltae10a8013be825b3/66a116f78e41e1d2996a82c3/Screenshot_2024-07-24_155934.png)
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Discovery put the race on, with Phelps donning a wetsuit with a fin in an attempt to even the odds a little bit in the 100 metre race.
The swimmer's all-time record to swim 100 metres was 47.51 seconds, but with the special wetsuit and fin on he posted a very respectable time of 38.1 seconds.
Some people watching the show thought that Phelps might have been in serious danger of being gobbled up by the shark, which posted a time of 36.1 seconds.
"Man I'm stupid," one viewer declared as they commented that they actually thought that Phelps was going to be racing a great white shark, when actually it was just a computer recreation of one.
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Others 'thought the CGI shark ate Phelps for a second', while plenty couldn't believe how folks had actually managed to be duped.
"Come on people, you can't put a human and a shark side by side in the ocean, otherwise the shark would eat Michael," they said.
![Shark beats human, because of course it does in the sea. (YouTube/Discovery)](https://images.ladbible.com/resize?type=webp&quality=70&width=3840&fit=contain&gravity=auto&url=https://images.ladbiblegroup.com/v3/assets/bltcd74acc1d0a99f3a/blt219a8dda84fa5df4/66a1173c5394910355b59a0a/Screenshot_2024-07-24_160046.png)
Of course the shark was simulated and still handily beat Phelps, while many more pointed out that this race was only ever going to go one way since a shark could go much faster than a human.
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A great white shark can reach speeds of up to 56km/h, while the Olympic swimmer can only really get to 7.6km/h.
On the other hand, sharks rarely swim in a straight line and would prefer to zig-zag.
If you actually tried to race a human and a shark then the shark would almost certainly win if it locked in and tried its best.
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Fortunately for Phelps and all the people duped by a CGI shark, he was never in any real danger.