From: Chris Mauro
It was one of the most spectacular days in U.S. Open Surfing History as the biggest swell in years slammed Huntington Beach just in time for the Round of 24, featuring 9X World Champion Kelly Slater, Rob Machado, Mick Fanning and more...
Consider two representations of two very big waves, below. The first is a photograph of Mike Parsons at Cortes Bank. The second is a video of Garrett McNamara near Nazare, Portugal. Now take out some measuring tape and make the distance of one foot between your hands. That's the amount, according to the Billabong XXL committee, that McNamara's wave is bigger than Parsons's wave.