Michael Phelps swore he would not come back to competitive swimming after the 2016 Olympics. Tonight, he came back out of retirement for one more race. He wasn’t racing in Budapest at the World Championships. He wasn’t at a club meet out in Arizona. He wasn’t racing the 200 IM at Speedo Sectionals.
Nope. He was racing in South Africa against a Great White Shark on the Discovery Channel as part of Shark Week.
Well, actually it was a computer generated avatar, based on speeds measured earlier in the show while the shark was chasing a seal. The shark finished 100 meters of swimming at 36.1 seconds.
Phelps wore a full body wet suit, similar to what Ian Thorpe used to wear in his heyday. The suit was to help Phelps swim in the 56 degree Fahrenheit water, some 24 degrees cooler than normal Olympic pools. Phelps also wore a monofin to mimic the tail of the shark.
Phelps swam the 100m distance underwater, only coming up for a few breaths, and finished in 38.1 seconds to finish second to the shark.
“I don’t like taking silver medals, but I’ll take one to a great white,” said Phelps after the race.
The South African shark had to have revenge on its mind after its countryman Chad Le Clos lost to Phelps last summer in the 200 fly. The race was not FINA approved so the shark’s time will not count as a world record, despite its following of the Lochte rule during the race. However, the shark surfaced after 15 meters so its time may not have counted anyway.
Phelps was not opposed to a rematch, as he tweeted after the race that he wanted to swim in “warmer water” next time.
The rest of the swimming world had some fun on Twitter with the much anticipated race.
The series isn’t over until it’s over.
https://twitter.com/WillLicon/status/889275319076753408
Maybe we can get some expert analysis?
Could the shark hold off the fastest relay split ever?
Perhaps the shark is going to have to race again?
The shark was not available for comment after the race, as it was busy chasing another meal.
Phelps will star on the final night of Shark Week in “Shark School with Michael Phelps” next Sunday at 8 ET.
Home court advantage for Shark! I want to see Dressel race a shark!!
Home pool advantage
only by a couple seconds! He said he had fun. Don’t cry guys, he’s obviously not dead
No kidding!!!! Those sharks are fueled by human flesh! Haha
The shark speed was determined by research testing and measurement .
You got a problem with that?
Shocked- he would get destroyed by a salmon too.
Just two seconds off
But he didn’t shave his face even! ?
Not by very much!
So what he’s still the king in the pool, he is a Champ to try don’t see these haters talking negative doing anything in this category. Because it’s the 1% who do – Keep kicking ass Michael Phelps-☆☆☆▪☆
That was expected
It was a fake shark so the shark wasn’t even swimming fast
Virginia White Pou we were just talking about this!
Duh
Rosie Ellie sad news
Gillian ?
Danielle
They should have lochte try it since he has the fastest underwater kick. Phelps would come in, gasp!, 3rd…
Marlon Somwaru
Rocelle Surio
Ian Thorpe did not wear a wetsuit. It was a full body suit but it was not made out of wetsuit material. If he had worn an actual wetsuit, his 400 time would have been 3:30.
Ashton Seip Bill Youmans welll imaaagine thaaaat
Yes, but how many endorsements does the shark have?
I’m pretty sure that shark has never won an Olympic medal either 😉
Ashton Seip Bill Youmans #priorities
Hannah Dawson Courtney Brown what a suprise
Actually closer than we thought!!!
Courtney Brown still team shark haha
Did we really expect a different outcome.
Duh!
Sarah Frazer forward too ty and stuff ??
Ty Post-Robertson
Hahahah ?
Katie Nguyen Melisa Cakir Tracy Nguyen a tragedy ?
????
his career is over ???
Hana El-Badrawy
obviouslayyyy
Maca Salazar
Anne Emaus
by 2 seconds!!! considering the shark’s many advantages Phelps did amazing!!!
Matthew Coetzee finally you guys won something
Devin Kellett Kenyon Kellett
By 2 seconds I think ?
Tian Henken
But he beat the reef Shark!
Robina Mallik
This is so stupid
Matthew Kimble… He wants to swim in warm water next time
Will that not also help the shark?
Rafael ah shite
it’s because the water was cold
they made him lose on purpose
it’s all rigged
Lochte is faster in underwater I guess he would have bet
Shark late start reaction time is very poor
And we don’t give a f**k.
Casey Christian
Give Phelps a breathing apparatus so he doesn’t have to come up for breaths and it’s race on!!
He needs to work harder in practice
If I was Phelps I would ask for a rematch
Amir Haviv
Julia dang it he lost, but only by like 2 seconds ???
it’s still a ridiculous time though ?
He should race a walrus
Kawas Aga lmao “despite following the lochte rule”
Hahahaha this is gold. It comes into effect for the shark every time. I’m quite surprised though, as Phelps went 38.1, which is 10 seconds under world record. You can argue that he was wearing a full techno suit, which would give upto 2 seconds, and a hydro fin, which would give around 7-9 seconds, but then again, he was swimming in water 24 degrees below FINA regulated water, so, he does seem somewhat close to what he was when he left swimming.
Yahya Khan