"There's only one word for it," Mick Fanning said.
"Perfection."
There are days in professional surfing when the athletes are the luminaries.
And there are days when the waves are so impeccable that the location itself is becomes the pre-eminent figure.
World title contenders Fanning, Kelly Slater and Joel Parkinson are still alive at the Billabong Pro Tahiti after a gem of a day at Teahupo'o when, according to Fanning, perfection looked like this: not a breath of wind, cloudless skies, warm and impossibly blue water, lush and towering mountains in the background and endless lines of swell hugging the reef in a marathon day of heats that amounted to a non-stop, eight-hour highlights package.
Fanning plucked a ten-point ride like he was picking a coconut from a tree.
Needing a 9.97 in the final minutes of his third-round heat against American Ian Walsh, Fanning posted the fourth 10 of the contest to consolidate his place at the top of the world rankings.
"It was heart in your mouth stuff," he said.
"I was looking at the waves late in that heat thinking, 'Can I? Should I?' There are times when you need those clutch performances.
"It's what you train for. It's what you work hard for. It's why you work on your mind so you can stay cool in those moments and excite when you need to.
"They're the kind of wins you don't forget."
Fanning posted 17.83 points to Walsh's 17.6.
Slater followed him into the water and swooped into a couple of postcard-perfect barrels to trump Australia's Anthony Walsh by 18.97 to 16.23.
From dawn to dusk, the waves kept coming.
"This is the best Teahupo'o I've surfed in years," Slater said.
"It's A-plus."
Parkinson was forced into the role of spectator because his third-round heat against Tahitian Alain Riou was unable to be staged before dark.
"It's been torturous to sit here all day and watch," he said.
