Olympic legend Michael Phelps has won 23 Olympic gold medals and holds 39 Olympic records. On Sunday, he may add another record to his long list of accomplishments as he competes against a Great White Shark in a 100 meter race.
The purpose of the race is to kick off Shark Week hosted by the Discovery channel which will air on Sunday at 8PM. Unfortunately for the fans, the race will not have Phelps and the shark side by side. Instead, Phelps swam his part of the “race” off the coast of Cape Town, South Africa, while the Great White fulfilled its part elsewhere in the ocean depths.
“We were not side by side during the race at the same exact time for the show,” says Phelps, who didn’t want to divulge too much about the special’s technical aspects. “For me, when I was in the water, safety was obviously the number one priority. But being able to swim in open water and in the same vicinity of sharks … they can swim wherever the hell they want … was just an absolute treat. I wanted to do it because it sounded awesome.”
Phelps record speed in a 100m race has been 6.5 miles / hour whereas a great white can swim as fast as 25 miles / hour. Although it is unlikely that Phelps comes out the winner, this race had a little more meaning to Phelps: “Other people don’t have the same appreciation for sharks as I do,” he says. “So many animals are killed, especially sharks, and hopefully we can get the message out to everybody that we don’t want to kill off this species. Hopefully people will have a better understanding of what sharks are about — and have some respect for these animals.”
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