Michael Phelps takes on a Great White Shark4 min read

On Sunday, TV audiences finally got a chance to watch the aquatic sporting event of the year: Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps racing a great white shark to see who’s a faster swimmer.

And it basically turned out exactly how you imagined it would — well, not exactly, because he didn’t get eaten. But he didn’t beat the shark, either.

Phelps — who agreed to participate in the spectacle because he loves sharks and, after earning 23 Olympic gold medals, a person probably just gets bored — went head-to-head against nature’s more fearsome predator on Phelps vs. Shark: Great Gold vs. Great White.

Despite what many people were hoping when they first heard about this stunt, the race didn’t take place in a pool as Phelps and the great white raced in side-by-side lanes. The race took place in (very cold) open waters, and Phelps simply had to beat the great white’s recorded speed over 100 meters.

In the end, Phelps actually did shockingly well. While the great white crossed the finish line first (so to speak) at 36.1 seconds, Phelps came in at 38.1 seconds. That’s only a two second difference between a mere human being and the king of the ocean.