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The weather promised giant waves at record heights, and the sea delivered.
Nazare on the Portuguese Atlantic coast, one of the best spots in the world for surfable monster waves.
Big wave surfing is a separate discipline in professional surfing.
It's not about tricks, jumps or elegance - it's all about the height of the wave and staying on the board.
Falls are life-threatening, since 1994 at least six professionals have died practicing their sport.
These pictures from Thursday may still be shown often because, according to insiders, these waves could have been the highest a person has ever ridden.
A German aspirant for the record: Sebastian Steudtner, who has been at home in Nazare for years.
The evaluation of the images and thus the subsequent, complicated measurement of the wave height with the help of experts from science can take months.
The world surfing organization had only announced the new women's world record in September - set by the Brazilian Maya Gabeira in February with 22 meters 40. Her compatriot Rodrigo Koxa holds the previous record for men with 24 meters 38 from 2017. He could now have lost.
Side note: Thousands watched the spectacle from the rocky coast.
Despite the corona epidemic, wearing no distance and largely without masks.