Which is more efficient: .parent().parent().parent() ~or~ parents(".foo") ~or~ closest(".foo")

I have an A tag which triggers the animation of it's great-great-great-grandparent. All of the following will work, but which is most efficient, and why?

$(this).parent().parent().parent().parent().parent().animate(...);

$(this).parents(".foo").animate(...);

$(this).closest(".foo").animate(...);

I suspect that the first might be, as it's the most explicit, but for maintenance reasons (the nesting may change) I prefer the second. They all appear to run smoothly in practice.