NEW YORK — Twitter blasted Michael Phelps and Discovery Channel after they announced in their hour-long special that the long-awaited race between Phelps and a Great White shark was simulated.
Discovery Channel’s Shark Week is one of the network’s most hyped weeks of the year, and this year was no different. The headlines read: ‘Phelps vs. Shark,’ advertising a race between the Olympian and a Great White in promos and on social media.
Many people who watched the special on Sunday night were disappointed.
More than 50 minutes into the hour-long special, ecologist Tristan Gutteridge said, “Clearly, we can’t put Michael in one lane and a white shark on the far lane. We’re gonna have to do a simulation.”
Folks on Twitter were pretty upset.
After a night of getting blasted on Twitter and losing to a shark simulation, Phelps was pretty optimistic that he and the shark would meet again for a rematch.
A spokeswoman for Discovery released a statement saying, “In PHELPS VS SHARK we enlisted world class scientists to take up the challenge of making the world’s greatest swimmer competitive with a Great White. The show took smart science and technology to make the challenge more accessible and fun. All the promotion, interviews and the program itself made clear that the challenge wasn’t a side by side race. During Michael’s pre-show promotion, as well as within the first 2 minutes of PHELPS VS SHARK, this message was clear and we are thrilled with the audience and the engagement around the world.”
Based on the Twitter reactions, if a rematch is in the future, Discovery Channel might want to figure out a way to have Phelps race an actual shark.