Phelps v shark a bit fishy

– Michael Phelps, the greatest Olympian of modern times, has finally met his match in a swim-off against the greatest predator in the oceans, the great white shark.

But many viewers of the Discovery Channel’s much-publicised race between man and beast found the result to be a little fishy.

Touted as “Phelps vs. Shark: Great Gold vs Great White”, the face-off in the chilly, shark-rich waters off South Africa was the launchpad for the channel’s annual Shark Week series of shows.

Phelps, who has won 28 Olympic medals, including 23 golds, noted before the event that his safety was the number one priority going into the race, and he said before the broadcast that he did not actually enter the water with the shark he was racing.

Instead, the film crew shot footage of a shark speeding along the same stretch of water as Phelps, who swam the course at a different time. –

Los Angeles