MAN V SHARK
SINCE the days of Ancient Rome when lions, tigers and elephants were unleashed against men – some armed, some not – in the Colosseum, there has been a gruesome fascination with the idea of ‘man versus beast’.
Though the contests no longer end in death, there’s a still a powerful instinct to test the speed and strength of the world’s quickest and most powerful animals against the finest specimens of humanity.
The latest challenge pits the most successful Olympian of all time, Michael Phelps, against the world’s most feared and efficient killing machine, a great white shark, in a 100-metre swimming race that is gripping the public’s imagination.
It sounds like enough to give anyone conniptions before they’ve dived in — even if, like Phelps, you are the winner of a record 28 Olympic medals in the pool including 23 golds. After all, for once, his opponent could eat him for breakfast . . . in every sense of the phrase.
So how do you stage such a race without recreating a scene from Jaws? Well, very carefully. The event was held in open water off the coast of Cape Town, South Africa, one of the temperate ocean zones where the predators thrive.
‘We did set up a lane line to make it look like there was a pool,’ said Phelps of the race, which is due to be broadcast on TV tonight at 8pm by the Discovery Channel. But the American, who retired from competitive swimming following the 2016 Rio Games, added: ‘We were very safe. We had about 15 safety divers around.’
Referring to the whereabouts of the shark, he said: ‘We weren’t side by side. The challenge of trying to get a great white to swim in a straight line was difficult, because when a white attacks a seal, they come from under the surface to build speed. But I think with some of the tests we were running out there on the boat, we were able to see what they can do.’
Great whites swim at 6mph to 7mph, but are capable of explosive bursts of 25mph when hunting. Phelps, whose top speed is 6mph, strapped a ‘monofin’ (a single flipper) on his feet, to double his speed in a bid to even things up. He said he wanted to take part in the stunt because of his admiration for great whites’ prowess in the water.
He hopes the race will aid shark conservation and show they ‘really aren’t out to eat us’. Another factor the Olympic legend – who is more used to heated pools – had to contend with was water temperature.
‘For me, the biggest thing was just trying to stay warm. That was something that was extremely challenging, just because the water is 55f (13c),’ said Phelps, who wore a wetsuit.
WHILE the victor will remain unknown until the show airs, Phelps was unstinting in his admiration for these creatures.
‘I swim in a straight line, that’s really all I do. These guys can swim in any direction at the fastest speeds. That is pretty mind-blowing to me.’
His chances of beating a creature which has evolved over millions of years and is perfectly adapted to its marine environment are slim. The bookies made the shark odds-on favourite to win. But could this incredible athlete spring a surprise?
Above, we see how the two competitors measure up – and, on the right, look at other fascinating human-versus-animal races.