In the immortal words of Twitter user maxneary13, "Michael Phelps is racing a CGI shark. The world is yet again a meme." Of course something as epic and insane as Michael Phelps racing a shark for Shark Week would come with an exorbitant amount of Twitter commentary. And, let's just say, you have to sea the memes and jokes about Phelps racing a shark — because they are too funny and too punny.
And, in Phelps' defense, the shark he's racing isn't exactly CGI. Yes, for safety reasons he's not actually in the water with the great white at the same time. But, the Shark Week specialists did film and record the top speeds of real great white sharks, which they superimposed with footage of Phelps racing. It was actually all pretty cool — and even cooler that Phelps wasn't that far off from beating the shark in the 100m race. The shark came in with 36.1 seconds and Phelps was just two seconds behind with a 38.1 second time. And, while Phelps may not have won, the Internet did win — because viewers had the chance to create a ton of jokes about Phelps and the shark.
The Losing Stare
Never forget the original Phelps meme.
Puns Galore
Whether you agree with this tweet or not, "jumping the shark" is a great pun.
Inside The Shark's Brain
Oh, look, an Olympic-sized snack!
Prepping For Battle
Same.
Casual Plans
You know how they do.
Simulated Swimming
I know that Phelps needed to stay safe and couldn't literally race a shark, but part of me still wishes he did.
Must Watch Event
Where were you when Phelps raced a shark?
10/10 Would Watch
He's giving Discovery some great ideas.
Who Came Up With This?
I'd like to congratulate them.
Why It Happened
Makes sense.
Sharks Are Sharks
Phelps needed all kinds of fancy swim tech to race the shark. But, the shark was just... a shark doing its shark business and being fast.
Missed Opportunity
At least this tweet exists.
Phelps didn't win the race, but he did provide some great entertainment for meme makers on Twitter. And, in that way, we all won.
