Is there a more intoxicating sight in surfing than Bethany Hamilton with the bit between her teeth, steaming down the line at dreamlike Cloudbreak?

Yesterday at the Fiji Women’s Pro, the wildcard assaulted the lip with a vigour and technical mastery that put most of the women’s top 16 to shame, achieving a degree of torque that thrilled and flummoxed in equal measure. The hair on our feeble, embarrassed arms stood on end! Meanwhile, our minds battled furiously to make sense of it all. First she came from behind to topple world no. 1 Tyler Wright in the second round, then she made swift work of Stephanie Gilmore and Johanne Defay to book her spot in the quarters, all the while negotiating the famously unruly line-up with apparent ease. And how our spirits soared!