Once he stopped fearing the end of the world, George Pittar was ready to beat the best in the world.
Eleven months after the Australian surfer was devastated to miss the mid-season cut at the Margaret River Pro, Pittar returned to the same WA event and went on a Brazilian world champion takedown spree.
It netted the 23-year-old from Manly his first World Surf League event title, when he pounced on a rare mistake from Gabriel Medina in Sunday's final and took full toll.
Also on Sunday, 31-year-old American Lakey Peterson was too good for the women's new guard, beating 21-year-old Brazilian Luana Silva in their final to win Margaret River for a second time.
Before Sunday's final against the Brazilian great, Pittar sat in the same spot at Main Beach where he had let it sink in last May that his rookie championship tour season was over.
He went back to the challenger series, fixed his mindset and has returned to the top level as a different surfer.
"It's kind of crazy how different the feelings are," Pittar said after his breakthrough win.
"I felt like I was so scared of losing last year and it's going to be the end of the world.
"I fell off at the cut and that was what I pictured as being the worst thing in the world - I couldn't believe it. Then - I'm sweet, I still have two arms and legs and I'm still doing what I love for a living.
"(It's) just not being so fearful of losing and being able to try to want to be pretty clutch in those moments, where I can, and just enjoying the journey."
Adding lustre to his maiden WSL win, Pittar beat every world champion currently on tour, all of them Brazilian - Filipe Toledo in round one, reigning world champion Yago Dora in the quarter-finals and Italo Ferreira in Sunday morning's semis.
Then Pittar came up against Medina, the three-time world champion who is back on tour after a year out with a pectoral injury.
Pittar regards Medina as a "giant". It was the first time they had competed against each other.
Early in the final, Medina miscalculated and gave up priority to Pittar. As Medina waved in futile protest, the Australian took full toll.
Pittar posted a 9.0 wave score - the highest of the whole event - and held on to win 15.17 to 12.46.
"I haven't won a comp since I was 15 ... I just beat Medina in the final," an emotional Pittar said immediately after sealing the highlight of his career.
Pittar was also the best-performed Australian in the men's event of the opening round at Bells Beach earlier this month, where he was the only local to reach the third round.
In 2024, Pittar announced himself as a future star at Margaret River by reaching the semi-finals as a wildcard.
He has now improved to second on the world rankings, while Medina returns to the No.1 spot.
The see-sawing women's final came down to the last couple of minutes and Peterson won 12.23 to 11.83.
"I've come a long way with this place," said Peterson, who also won Margaret River in 2019. "I've definitely built an amazing connection (here)."
This was Peterson's first championship tour event win since J-Bay in 2023.
