“Should Be Honestly Ashamed”: Michael Phelps Faced Wrath of Disappointed Fans for His Fake Race Back in 2017

Michael Phelps is a world record holder swimmer and is considered to be the greatest Olympian of all time. Like no other swimmer in history, he broke through barriers both inside and outside the pool. In addition, there was a time when Phelps entered a shark cage to examine these fascinating marine creatures closely.

After that, a race was announced between shark and Phelps. However, the result of the race made fans lash out, causing a long thread of tweets. During an episode of Shark Week on Discovery, Phelps came close to a shark. Phelps relished this dangerous encounter with sharks because he had long wanted to do it.

Fans’ reactions to his race with CGI Shark

In 2017, Phelps decided to have this mesmerizing experience with a closer look. After that, the Twitter handle of Shark Week shared a video of him with a shark. They captioned the video, “It was just #2seconds. Here’s how @MichaelPhelps came that close to beating a great white shark. #PhelpsVsShark #SharkWeek.”

While seeing the video, some fans lashed out because they thought he would be racing with a real shark. One user wrote, “You all should be honestly ashamed. You were pushing this crazy stunt. All for it to be a computer shark. Where is the apology?” While another wrote, “You guys are a bunch of lying shysters who bamboozled your viewers. #SayNoToTheBong #SayNoToTheDiscoveryChannel.”

In a taunting tone, one user wrote, “Unfortunately, I heard it was a simulation 🙁 man, if he faced a REAL one, he’d get his butt whooped.” The number of disappointed fans increased, as one stated, “Rivera opens Al Capone’s Vault. Maddow releases Trump’s tax returns. And now Phelps vs. a great white shark. Another big, fat nothing,” one wrote.

But some fans came to his defense in the comment section. Someone wrote, “I can’t believe some people actually thought Michael Phelps was going to swim side by side with a great white shark. He isn’t crazy!!!”

READ MORE: Unearthed Video Shows Great White Sharks’ Scary Attack on Michael Phelps in Real Life

Some fans sarcastically took a dig at the situation and wrote, “But the Shark didn’t know he was in a race… #PhelpsvsShark #TeamShark #SharkWeek2017.” Adding the chlorine joke, one fan said, “Would a Great White survive in a chlorinated pool, or would the chemicals kill it? #SharkWeek #PhelpsVsShark #TeamPhelps #TeamShark.” Another Twitter user hilariously wrote, “HAS MICHAEL PHELPS KICKED THAT SHARK’S ASS YET.”

Michael Phelps slammed them for their expectations

After a while, Phelps clarified that all the hype about the shark race was not his fault. Michael shared a Facebook video response and said, “Everything was either presented on air during multiple interviews that I did throughout Shark Week or the beginning of the show. Sorry, you feel that way. For me, this is something I always wanted to do, and I was honored to be able to do it. “

He added, “Some people just decide not to listen to some of the things that we do, and that’s not my fault that you don’t do that. It’s pretty easy to open up your ears and listen to either what the TV is saying, what announcers are saying, or what I’m saying in interviews.”

WATCH THIS STORY: Resurfaced video shows Michael Phelps Race of the century with Ian Thorpe, Pieter Van Den Hoogenband’s at 2004 Athens Olympics

After all, he is an Olympic gold medalist swimmer. However, fans were probably curious to see if this superhuman swimmer can compete with one of the fastest and fiercest ocean creatures.