YEREVAN, JULY 24, ARMENPRESS. Michael Phelps, the world's most decorated Olympian swimmer, has lost a 100m race to a Great White shark, BBC reports.

The retired US athlete swam the stretch of open ocean in South Africa in 38.1 seconds to the shark's 36.1.

The race was broadcast on Discovery Channel as part of its Shark Week.

But Phelps and the shark did not actually swim next to each other - it was a computer simulation. This drew complaints from social media users.

Discovery Channel had the 28-time Olympic medallist and the shark swim the course separately, and then showed a montage of Phelps racing alongside a computer generated Great White.