Join our Waitlist for Expert Advice!

Discovery Responds To Tweeters Who Are Pissed That Michael Phelps Wasn't Eaten By a Shark People were disappointed Sunday night after finding out that the Olympic swimmer was racing a computer-generated shark.

By Rose Leadem

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Amin Mohammad Jamali | Getty Images

Sunday night viewers saw the results of a much-hyped race pitting a man with 23 gold medals against a shark with 300 teeth.

Sort of.

Discovery made a splash on Shark Week's kickoff, promising a race between Olympic swimmer powerhouse Michael Phelps and a great white shark. While the set up had visions of Phelps and the world's most perfect killing machine climbing into a pool together, that is not what happened. Instead, 57 minutes into the hour-long show, featured ecologist Tristan Gutteridge informed viewers, "Clearly, we can't put Michael in one lane and a white shark in the far lane. We're gonna have to do a simulation."

Related: 6 Success Secrets From 23-Time Gold Medalist Michael Phelp

Completing the race in 36.1 seconds, the CGI-generated "shark" ended up beating Phelps, who had a time of 38.1 seconds. The internet went nuts. Not that he climbed out of the water with a losing time, but that he climbed out of the water without losing any limbs.

Responding to the flood of outraged Tweeters, Laurie Goldberg, group EVP public relations for Discovery, Animal Planet and Science, told Entrepreneur, "We loved all the science and fun behind Phelps vs Shark. There are some who would have been happier if there was a shark in the pool, but we hear they are allergic to chlorine."

Here are some of the responses:

Rose Leadem is a freelance writer for Entrepreneur.com. 

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Business News

Meta Fires Employee Making $400,000 Per Year Over a $25 Meal Voucher Issue

Other staff members were fired for the same reason, per a new report.

Business News

Mark Zuckerberg Does a Better Job Than His Rivals at Explaining AI — And It's Helping Meta Outperform Alphabet, Amazon and Microsoft

Meta has been using AI for content recommendations, keeping users' attention for longer periods of time.

Leadership

Her Company Makes an Iconic 75-Year-Old Candy Popular for Halloween. Ignoring This 'Bad' Leadership Advice She Received Helps Drive Its Success.

Liz Dee, co-president of New Jersey-based candy company Smarties, shares some important lessons in leadership.

Business Ideas

63 Small Business Ideas to Start in 2024

We put together a list of the best, most profitable small business ideas for entrepreneurs to pursue in 2024.