Read the passage, then fill in the blank to complete the statement about the passage's metaphorical language.
Passage:
The sudden rise of the digital marketplace did not merely supplement traditional retail; it acted as a tidal wave, sweeping away long-standing brick-and-mortar institutions that failed to adapt. For decades, these downtown stores had been the bedrock of local economies, providing steady employment and serving as community hubs. Yet, in the face of rapid technological disruption, their established business models became anchors rather than foundations. Instead of providing stability, their physical overhead and slow supply chains dragged them down in a fast-moving current of online commerce.
Many traditional business owners viewed these developments with sheer panic, attempting to construct defensive walls by lobbying for local tax protections or launching rudimentary websites that did little to capture the dynamic nature of the web. Entrepreneurs who recognized the inevitability of the shift, however, did not try to build stronger dams; instead, they learned to surf the new digital waves, leveraging agility and global reach to capture markets that did not exist a decade prior. By treating the internet as a vast, open ocean of opportunity rather than a destructive storm to be weathered, these forward-thinking businesses transformed the landscape of modern trade.
Based on the figurative language in the passage, fill in the blank with the metaphorical verb that completes the statement below.