Great white shark won convincingly in the 100m swim race with Olympic champion Michael Phelps thanks to its ability to retain heat in cold water.
Michael Phelps , an American swimmer who set 39 world records and holds 23 Olympic gold medals, failed to compete with a great white shark on the show “Phelps vs. Shark: Great Gold vs. Great White” broadcast on the Discovery Channel yesterday, according to Bleacher Report. Experts assessed that the reason Phelps lost was due to heat loss when swimming in cold water and the difference in swimming speed compared to sharks.
Phelps could not defeat the great white shark despite wearing modern swimsuits. (Artwork: Distractify.com).
Phelps swam the 100m in 38.1 seconds, while the great white finished the race in 36.1 seconds, two seconds faster than Phelps. At the start of the race, Phelps reached a speed of 14.1km/h, faster than the shark, but then the great white took a 25-meter lead and Phelps was unable to overcome this distance.
“Before diving, I knew the water was going to be very cold, and I knew for a swimmer like me, swimming in the cold like this would shock my whole body. I was just wearing a swimsuit. thin, so it feels really cold,” Phelps shared. “For me, the biggest challenge is trying to stay warm , which is extremely difficult, because the water temperature is only 13 degrees Celsius. That’s the environment a shark can survive, while a fish can survive. People really can’t live under water like that.”
Andrew Nosal, marine biologist and shark expert at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego, California, USA, predicted the outcome of the race. According to Nosal, unlike most other shark species, great white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) are warm-blooded animals, so they can live and swim quickly in cold water. “The temperature at the center of their body is warmer than the surrounding water, allowing the swimming muscles to contract harder for longer,” says Nosal.
Great whites maintain their ability to absorb heat thanks to specially arranged blood vessels called “convection heat exchangers” , which prevent the heat generated from muscle contraction from radiating into the surrounding water.
Michael Phelps encountered a great white while diving in a cage. (Video: Mirror).
Great white sharks use extreme speed to stalk walruses and other agile marine animals, says Christopher Lowe, a professor of marine biology at the University of California, Long Beach. Great white sharks can swim at speeds of up to 40km/h.
In contrast, Phelps’ speed is only considered fast when compared to the average person. “In a race, I think my fastest speed is about 8-10km/h. With a monofin fishtail, I can reach speeds of 13-19km/h,” Phelps said.
The monofin fishtail is a device shaped like a shark’s tail that can help Phelps improve his swimming speed. He also wears a Phantom swimsuit that increases buoyancy and reduces drag, according to the producer of Aqua Sphere. Phelps did not directly swim with a real white shark in the 100m race in South African waters, but competed with CGI sharks (computer simulation technology).