Is Olympic gold-medal swimmer Michael Phelps able to out-swim one of nature’s fastest predators?
That is the premise of the Discovery Channel’s Shark Week 2017 special event, Phelps vs. Shark: Great Gold vs. Great White.
According to a press release from Discovery, “They are one of the fastest and most efficient predators on the planet: Sharks. He is our greatest champion to ever get in the water: Michael Phelps. 39 world records. 23 Olympic golds. But he has one competition left to win. An event so monumental no one has ever attempted it before. The world’s most decorated athlete takes on the ocean’s most efficient predator: Phelps V Shark – the race is on!”
Great White sharks of course can reach over 25 miles per hour in open water. Phelps’ top speed in the free-style event barely topped six miles per hour.
Phelps will also star in his own full-length episode, Shark School, in which he teams up with Doc Gruber and Tristan Guttridge of the Bimini Shark Lab to learn all about the various types of sharks.
According to Discovery’s official release, Phelps and the biologists will “dispel the myths and common misconceptions, teach him how to safely dive with sharks – including how to stay calm when a hammerhead swims two feet above his face – and will get Michael Phelps up close and personal with the incredible power of a great white.”
Source: WJLA