--- title: Michael Phelps Shark Racing: Best Internet Reactions description: The Internet reactions to Michael Phelps racing sharks for a Discovery Channel special were the real winners. canonical: https://time.com/4870783/michael-phelps-shark-racing-reactions/ author: Ashley Hoffman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-07-24T16:31:42.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:45:34.902Z og:title: The Internet Is the True Winner of the Phelps vs Shark Race og:description: People couldn't tear themselves away og:url: https://time.com/4870783/michael-phelps-shark-racing-reactions/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt94344e252497b5e6/6988d6df0b72e358ee6eec33/gettyimages-819819166.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: GettyImages-819819166 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Internet Is the True Winner of the Phelps vs Shark Race twitter:description: People couldn't tear themselves away twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt94344e252497b5e6/6988d6df0b72e358ee6eec33/gettyimages-819819166.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Internet’s Reactions to Michael Phelps’ Shark Race Were the Real Winners > Sponsored content. 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The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Jul 24, 2017 4:31 PM UTC  Michael Phelps is seen outside 'Good Morning America' on July 20, 2017 in New York City. Michael Phelps is seen outside 'Good Morning America' on July 20, 2017 in New York City. Raymond Hall—Getty Images by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Jul 24, 2017 4:31 PM UTC [Michael Phelps](http://time.com/4864457/watch-michael-phelps-race-6-sea-animals-in-60-seconds/)’ highly anticipated [race against a Great White Shark](http://time.com/4852310/michael-phelps-shark-week-interview/) was a rollercoaster of emotions for heavily invested fans on the Internet. The Discovery Channel special, called “[Phelps vs. Shark](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSXeDFQdK54),” aired Sunday for the premiere of its annual Shark Week, happening now through Aug. 8\. Fans of both the 28-time Olympic gold medalist and sharks were glued to their TVs, waiting to see the main event: Phelps going up against a Great White Shark. The special included the Olympic golden boy’s stunned reaction to a simulation of a speedy shark besting Olympic swimmers. The GIF of his facial expression alone deserves to rule the Internet. > [](https://twitter.com/cjzero/status/889277016943546368) > [](https://twitter.com/YahooSports/status/889274006045691906) > [](https://twitter.com/mosleybanks13/status/889286673175121921) > [](https://twitter.com/LauraMDye/status/889275075924566016) > [](https://twitter.com/SBNationGIF/status/889279328671993856) The catch? Phelps was racing computerized sharks, including the preliminary 50-meter races against a reef and hammerhead shark. (He lost that second one.) The CGI simulations were created from real data on sharks. And even though Phelps and scientist Tristan Gutteridge stressed beforehand that the Olympian would not be competing with actual sharks in open water, some online were disappointed to learn the finned adversaries were digitally rendered. > [](https://twitter.com/cjzero/status/889277016943546368) > [](https://twitter.com/GaryParrishCBS/status/889290860046815232) > [](https://twitter.com/reqnna/status/889315167690936320) > [](https://twitter.com/emyrosa/status/889325475327340544) > [](https://twitter.com/MikeSciandra/status/889316970780389376) One user was more upset that Phelps wasn’t competing with a mako shark. > [](https://twitter.com/AndrewNosal/status/889273933303644160) Despite a custom wet suit and a helpful single fin to keep his feet locked together, Phelps was two seconds slower than the computer-simulated Great White: 36.1 to 38.1, respectively. > [](https://twitter.com/SharkWeek/status/889289042340200450) Still, it’s an admirable time and both Twitter users and Phelps are ready for a rematch. > [](https://twitter.com/MichaelPhelps/status/889291705115168768) > [](https://twitter.com/thedogsirrodney/status/889291826745810944) > [](https://twitter.com/mirasophiaa/status/889290596774490112) > [](https://twitter.com/AveryGute18/status/889289744437444614) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4870783/michael-phelps-shark-racing-reactions/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4870783/michael-phelps-shark-racing-reactions/"},"headline":"The Internet’s Reactions to Michael Phelps’ Shark Race Were the Real Winners","datePublished":"2017-07-24T16:31:42.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:45:34.902Z","description":"People couldn't tear themselves away","url":"https://time.com/4870783/michael-phelps-shark-racing-reactions/","keywords":["Newsfeed","animals","Discovery","Michael Phelps","Shark Week","Sports"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt94344e252497b5e6/6988d6df0b72e358ee6eec33/gettyimages-819819166.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ashley Hoffman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt94344e252497b5e6/6988d6df0b72e358ee6eec33/gettyimages-819819166.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"GettyImages-819819166","caption":"Michael Phelps in New York CIty","creditText":"Raymond Hall—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4870783/michael-phelps-shark-racing-reactions/","name":"The Internet’s Reactions to Michael Phelps’ Shark Race Were the Real Winners"}}]}] ```