With 23 Olympic gold medals, swimmer Michael Phelps needed a new challenge.
已榮獲了23枚奧運(yùn)金牌的游泳選手邁克爾·菲爾普斯需要一項(xiàng)新的挑戰(zhàn)。

And what better challenger for the most decorated Olympian in history than the ocean's most fearsome predator - the Great White Shark.
對(duì)于這位史上獲得最多奧運(yùn)獎(jiǎng)牌的選手還有比海洋中最可怕的捕食者大白鯊更好的挑戰(zhàn)者嗎？

The king of the pool threw down the gauntlet to the king of the ocean for a new documentary.
在一部新的紀(jì)錄片中，泳池之王向海洋之王發(fā)起了挑戰(zhàn)。

But did he bite off more than he could chew?
不過，他是不是太不自量力了？

Phelps vs Shark saw the American swimmer don a ‘monofin’ take to the open waves off Cape Town, South Africa for Shark Week.
“鯊魚周”這檔記錄片見證了菲爾普斯與鯊魚對(duì)抗的全過程，這位美國(guó)游泳選手穿上“單片腳蹼”與鯊魚在南非開普敦市的開放水域進(jìn)行了較量。

Backed by a 15-strong army of divers underneath him for protection, he emulated the shark’s shape and swimming conditions while racing over 100m.
在進(jìn)行100米游泳比賽的時(shí)候，他模仿了鯊魚的樣子和游泳條件，期間有15名強(qiáng)壯的軍隊(duì)潛水員在水下保護(hù)他。

Viewers in the US tuned in to the Discovery Channel on Sunday night to see the results of this battle.
美國(guó)的觀眾在周日晚上收看探索頻道就可以觀看這場(chǎng)比賽的結(jié)果。

So did Phelps win the ultimate contest of human conditioning and skill versus pure, survival of the fittest evolution... or did he become lunch?
那么菲爾普斯以人類的身體條件和技巧對(duì)抗適者生存條件下存活下來的純粹物種，他贏得了最后的比賽了嗎，還是他成了鯊魚的午餐？

For starters, much to the disappointment of some viewers, Phelps, 32, didn't actually race a real shark. Instead, the swimmer was pitted against three computer generated sharks - a hammerhead, a reef shark and, last but not least, a Great White.
首先，讓一些觀眾十分失望的是，事實(shí)上，32歲的菲爾普斯并沒有與一條真正的鯊魚比賽，而是與三條電腦合成的鯊魚對(duì)抗的，這三條鯊魚分別是一條錘頭鯊、一條礁鯊，以及最后也同樣重要的一條大白鯊。

Phelps was given a special wetsuit to make him more streamlined as well as a fin - similar to a great white’s - to put him on equal footing with the shark.
菲爾普斯得到了一套特殊的潛水衣，它就像大白鯊的鰭一樣，使他更具流線型，讓他與鯊魚處于平等的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)條件之下。

A Great White’s top speed hits 25mph, and an average of 16, while Phelps reaches a ‘mere’ six (albeit compared to an average human swimmer’s two).
大白鯊的最快速度達(dá)25英里/小時(shí)，平均速度也有16英里/小時(shí)，而菲爾普斯的速度“只”達(dá)到了6英里/小時(shí)（盡然如此，但人類游泳選手的平均速度為2英里/小時(shí)）。

“It was so exhilarating,” said Michael. “My love for sharks has been there my whole life, this is a bucket list item.”
“這太令人激動(dòng)了，”邁克爾·菲爾普斯說道?！拔乙恢狈浅Ｏ矚g鯊魚，與鯊魚比賽是我的愿望之一?！?/div>
“I wasn’t really expecting to absolutely win against a shark. I wanted to get in and give myself the best opportunity to see how fast I could go, to see how I could compare to the high speed of some of the animals that we have in the ocean.”
“我并非真的期待著完全贏過一條鯊魚。我想?yún)⑴c其中，給自己這個(gè)最佳的機(jī)會(huì)來看看我可以游多快，看看與海洋中速度非?？斓纳锵啾任业谋憩F(xiàn)如何?！?/div>

Incredibly, Phelps did actually beat one of the sharks.
不可思議的是，菲爾普斯確實(shí)打敗了其中一條鯊魚。

In his first race, the swimmer came second to the hammerhead shark, beating the reef shark by .2 of a second.
在他的第一場(chǎng)比賽中，這位游泳選手沒有贏過那條錘頭鯊，但他卻以0.2秒的優(yōu)勢(shì)擊敗了礁鯊。

Sadly, his skills were no match for the Great White, which was two whole seconds faster over 100m.
遺憾的是，他的技能不敵大白鯊，在100米的比賽中，大白鯊比他快了整整兩秒。

For the documentary the swimmer spent time at School of Shark in the Bahamas before the race, to learn how the mammals move.
在紀(jì)錄片中，這位游泳選手賽前在巴哈馬群島的鯊魚學(xué)?；〞r(shí)間了解了這種哺乳動(dòng)物的移動(dòng)方式。

“It was so interesting watching how they are in everyday life, being able to see how they go for a regular afternoon stroll, and how they just walk around on the water, or figuring out what they would swim in a 100-metre race,” he says.
“看著他們?cè)谌粘Ｉ钪袠幼樱夷軌蚩吹剿麄兪侨绾芜M(jìn)行常規(guī)的下午閑逛，它們?nèi)绾卧谒兴奶庌D(zhuǎn)動(dòng)，并弄明白他們?cè)?00米游泳比賽中會(huì)是什么樣子的，這一切都十分有趣，”他說道。

“Usually at this time of year it’s when we’re going into a major competition, so it was always very relaxing and calming to watch and learn more about sharks.”
“通常在每年的這個(gè)時(shí)候，我們都在進(jìn)行大型比賽，所以看著鯊魚并進(jìn)一步了解這種生物讓我一直都很放松、很平靜?！?/div>
He admitted he’ll always be an adrenaline junkie, though. And now he’s achieved all he can in the pool, he’s always on the look-out for the next ‘dream come true.’
他承認(rèn)自己一直是一個(gè)愛冒險(xiǎn)的人。如今他已經(jīng)實(shí)現(xiàn)了自己在泳池中的所有目標(biāo)，他一直在期待著下一次“夢(mèng)想成真”。

（翻譯：Dlacus)

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