How to Stay Upright When Swell Builds Faster Than Expected
Near Sand Harbor, on the third day of our five-day paddleboard circumnavigation of Lake Tahoe, a tailwind that had been pushing my best friend Michael Whalen and me along generously suddenly built enough swell to make standing upright genuinely difficult. Both of us nearly went in multiple times over a stretch that had felt manageable just minutes before. Here's what actually kept us upright, and what I'd tell anyone facing the same situation.
How Swell Builds Faster Than You Expect
Wind and swell don't always build at the same pace. A tailwind that starts as a helpful push can generate wave action that outpaces how quickly the wind itself seems to be increasing, especially over open stretches of a large lake where fetch, the distance wind travels over water, allows swell to grow. We didn't notice the water changing until it had already become genuinely difficult to manage, which is a common experience rather than a sign we weren't paying attention. Swell tends to sneak up on you precisely because the wind pushing it feels like a benefit right up until the water underneath you tells a different story.
The Physical Techniques That Actually Helped
Bending your knees more than feels natural lowers your center of gravity and gives you more room to absorb a sudden lateral hit without losing balance entirely. Staying loose through your hips and core, rather than locking up defensively, lets your body actually respond to the board moving underneath you instead of fighting against it. We both found that consciously widening our stance helped too, giving a slightly larger base of support to work with when the board started getting knocked sideways.
Why Switching to Seated Paddling Made the Difference
At a certain point in that stretch, we both switched from standing to seated paddling, and that single change did more for our stability than any standing technique adjustment could have. Sitting drops your center of gravity dramatically compared to standing, and it turns a precarious balancing act into something far more manageable, even if it slows your paddling efficiency somewhat. If conditions are building faster than you can comfortably manage standing, don't treat sitting down as a failure or a step backward. It's a legitimate strategy that professional paddlers use specifically because it works.
Reading the Swell to Know When You're in Trouble
There's a difference between swell that's uncomfortable but manageable and swell that's genuinely putting you at risk of falling or losing control. Watch the interval between waves as much as their height. Waves coming close together with little recovery time between them are more dangerous than larger waves spaced further apart, since the close interval doesn't give you time to reset your balance before the next hit arrives. If you notice the interval shortening while the height is also building, that's a strong signal to get to a more stable position, whether that's seated paddling or getting off the water entirely if a safe option exists nearby.
What to Do If You Do Fall
We didn't fall during this specific stretch, though we came close more than once. If you do go in, the priority is staying with your board and using its leash to avoid separation, then reassessing conditions before attempting to climb back on rather than immediately fighting to remount in water that's still actively rough. Falling in choppy conditions isn't necessarily dangerous on its own, but a poorly managed recovery in the same conditions that caused the fall can compound the problem.
What This Taught Us About Reading Conditions Earlier
The biggest lesson from this stretch wasn't really about balance technique. It was about recognizing the pattern earlier next time. A tailwind that's building swell behind you is giving you information before the water actually becomes difficult to manage, and learning to read that pattern before you're already in the middle of it is more valuable than any recovery technique after the fact.
What Michael and I Did Differently in That Moment
We didn't handle that stretch identically, and comparing notes afterward taught me something about how different people respond to the same building conditions. Michael switched to seated paddling slightly earlier than I did, which in hindsight was the better call. I stayed standing a bit longer, partly out of stubbornness and partly because I was trying to hold a camera angle I wanted for a shot, which is exactly the kind of decision that can compound risk unnecessarily. If you're paddling with a partner, pay attention to how they're reading conditions relative to how you are, and don't assume your own read is automatically the more accurate one just because it's yours.
How Cold Water Factors Into the Danger
Beyond the immediate challenge of staying upright, it's worth remembering that Lake Tahoe's water stays cold even in the height of summer given its depth. A fall in rough conditions carries an added risk from cold water shock on top of the physical challenge of the swell itself. That combination is part of why we treated the building conditions near Sand Harbor as seriously as we did, rather than viewing it purely as an inconvenience to push through. Cold water changes the calculation on how much risk is reasonable to take in choppy conditions, and it's worth factoring in explicitly rather than treating every open-water crossing as equally low stakes regardless of temperature. Even a strong swimmer can be slowed down significantly by the shock of cold water, and that's exactly the wrong moment for reduced mobility if you're also managing a loaded board in rough conditions.
What This Stretch Looked Like From the Outside
Looking back at footage from that crossing, the swell doesn't fully translate the way it felt in the moment. Photos and video tend to flatten rough water into something that looks more manageable than it actually was, which is worth remembering both as a documentarian and as someone reading other people's trip content before planning your own route. If a stretch of water looks moderately choppy in someone else's photos, assume the real experience of paddling through it was more demanding than the image suggests, and plan your own approach with that gap between appearance and reality in mind.
Before You Close This Tab
What techniques help you stay balanced when wind-driven chop builds unexpectedly on open water, based on your own experience?
How would you tell the difference between uncomfortable swell and genuinely dangerous conditions in the moment?
Have you practiced switching from standing to seated paddling quickly enough to use it as a real strategy rather than a last resort?
What would your recovery plan look like if you fell in conditions similar to what we faced near Sand Harbor?
Dalton Johnson is a photographer, filmmaker, and brand storyteller based in South Lake Tahoe, California. Over the past decade he has worked with brands including Patagonia, GoPro, Arc'teryx, Four Seasons, Nike, Rivian, and Ford Bronco across all seven continents. He is the creator of the Follow The Journey distribution framework, which has produced over one million organic views per 30-day cycle without paid media. His work includes two published books, an award-winning documentary that aired on PBS, and more than fifty commercial spots directed. He runs Stories by Dalton on Substack, read by more than 34,000 subscribers.