TV Episode Recommendation: Phelps vs Shark: Great Gold vs Great White (2017)

Posted on 07/08/2020 by Pisaries Creator

When I read the reviews of this episode, many people were let down by Discovery Channel. The main reason being Michael Phelps was not swimming beside a Great White Shark. If you think about all the logistics needing to take place, this is not possible. When you add in the safety factor for both the shark and Phelps, I did a few eyebrow raises. The bottom line this is not possible and obviously some viewers are not well versed in shark behaviors. While I did see a shortened version of Phelps swimming against a computer generated shark over five years ago, it was not too impressive.

So which one is faster? Phelps or a Great White? You probably have already guessed the right answer, but I’m not going to say it. He also races against a hammerhead and reef shark. While the hammerhead measured at 15 mph, the great white can swim up at 26 mph and more. To give Phelps even a glimmer of hope to winning, he was given a mono fin and nice looking wetsuit but very thin. He did his best to swim like a shark and I did learn something from watching this. If I ever go swimming with the sharks, it is probably better to be in a narrow cage than a bigger one. While the bigger cage gives you more space between you and the shark, the narrower one doesn’t have a chance of the shark entering the cage with you. This is a must see episode, but I love sharks and most everything they do. It wasn’t hard to watch it. It’s 60 minutes long and can watch it on Hulu.