Skip To Content
  • Viral badge
  • Poll badge

Michael Phelps Didn't Really Race A Shark And People Are Confused

"I feel robbed."

So remember how superhuman Michael Phelps was going to race a great white shark for Shark Week?

Well, the big event went down on Sunday night on Discovery Channel, as people gathered around their televisions to watch the Olympic legend literally race a shark...

Live footage of Shark getting ready to wipe the floor with Michael Phelps. #PhelpsVsShark #SharkWeek

Seriously, people cleared their calendars just to watch it:

#PhelpsVsShark so important to my family my mom had to make it an event in the calendar 🤷🏼‍♀️

I guess we all just collectively assumed Phelps would be in one lane and there would be a huge shark right next to him. Instead, both Phelps and the shark swam 100 meters in the same waters but not at the same time — and the race was put together using CGI:

Of course, if literally ANYONE thought about it for like one second, we all would have realized that would be a complete safety nightmare and never would have actually happened...

As the internet started to realize the truth, people had A LOT of feelings:

America's collective disappointment when we realized that #PhelpsVsShark is all just science and simulations:

My face when I realized they weren't going to put Michael Phelps in one lane and a shark in the other. #SharkWeek… https://t.co/gvpHLe5tTG

Don't say Phelps is racing a shark if you're not going to put him against an actual shark #PhelpsVsShark #SharkWeek

When u realize Phelps isn't actually racing side by side with a great white shark... #SharkWeek

They felt silly...

Should I feel silly that I thought Michael Phelps would actually be racing a shark??...in the water with an actual shark

...and tricked...

Turns out “Michael Phelps races a shark” was really just “Michael Phelps swims alone and then compares his time to a shark’s time.”

...and even ROBBED.

Call me crazy but I thought they were gonna put Phelps up against a real shark not a simulation. I feel robbed.… https://t.co/lTcTUSJh4H

The whole thing just wasn't what some people envisioned:

When Michael Phelps said he was gonna race a shark this is how I pictured it happening #SharkWeek

The truth is, real shark or not, the event was a highly entertaining night of television...

This is the greatest TV thing since the moon landing #PhelpsVsShark

...even if Phelps ultimately lost to the great white shark.

Don't worry, though. The Olympic legend is ready for a rematch whenever the great white shark is:

Rematch? Next time..warmer water. #SW30 @Discovery @SharkWeek