Ella Cossill’s always been destined for a life in professional sport. But most would’ve anticipated she’d be eyeing the Paris Olympics in swimming.
Not anymore though. The 24-year-old was this week named in Rowing New Zealand’s women’s four alongside Jackie Gowler, Phoebe Spoors and Davina Waddy to compete at World Cup III and the World Championships.
“This is everything I’ve ever wanted, this is what I’ve been training for,” Cossill told 1News this week. “Even when I was swimming I always knew I was going to represent my country so it’s awesome to be able to do it through maybe something I didn’t expect in the first place.”
That’s because Cossill was very promising in the pool, building towards a career in that sport while living on the Gold Coast with her parents. Then, out of the blue, she received a call from the prestigious Yale University in the States. They’d seen a photo of her and thought she’d make a good rower.
“They knew I was swimmer but I looked like I could be a good rower with my quads and they would like to recruit me and it just stuck in the back of my mind after that.”
She wasn’t immediately enthralled by the idea though.
“I wanted to come back and represent New Zealand through swimming. I shut it down really quickly and was like, ‘no that’s not for me, thanks though’.”
But towards the end of high school she lost the enjoyment for the pool and that idea of rowing started to come to the fore. She’d managed to get in a boat a few times as a hobby around her swimming training, so knew enough to give it a crack. She spent five years at the University of Washington where she was named PAC 12 Women's Rower of the Year, stroking the women's eight. In her words, the rest is history.
“It means a lot to make It. I’ve always wanted to represent New Zealand, whether I was swimming or rowing, it’s always been a goal. So to get a chance to do it through Rowing New Zealand has been awesome and I’m super excited.”
But, Cossill admits her time in swimming may not be entirely finished.
“I definitely feel like I have unfinished business there, in a way,” she begins. “. I didn’t stop at my peak, I stopped for other reasons so I’ve always considered that could be an option one day, but I’ve got to stick with rowing for a little bit first.”
At least until Paris anyway.
And that road to Paris is made a touch easier by the fact her early alarm clocks aren’t as bad as the others in the squad, due to the helpful fact her parents live on the other side of Lake Karapiro, making the commute to-and-from training that bit more enjoyable.
“Initially yes (I copped some grief),” she laughs, “people thought it was a bit of a joke that I was renting a boat to travel across every day. But it’s so efficient and I can see the water, so everyone asks me what the water’s like now (before training).”
Cossill and the rest of the Rowing NZ team head to Europe next week before World Cup III next month.
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