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In episode #202 host Kyla Channell talks with elite New Zealand rower Ella Cossill about what professional rowing actually demands, from 2K racing in six to seven minutes to the huge training and recovery load behind it. Ella also breaks down how she fuels 6,000 to 8,000 calories a day, why rowing culture pushes performance over thinness, and how she times carbs, caffeine, and bicarbonate around racing.
We also discuss the realities of national team life, including training blocks, injury prevention, sleep, naps, and the differences between rowing and other endurance sports like swimming, cycling, and running.
Key topics
- Ella shares what it means to be a professional rower on New Zealand’s national team, including Olympic qualification.
- Ella explains the annual training cycle and training volume
- Ella breaks down why rowing nutrition is so high-volume, with intake often landing between 6,000 and 8,000 calories depending on the week.
- She shares how eating enough changed her performance
- Ella shares her typical fueling routine, including plenty of recovery food after training.
- She explains in-race fueling for long sessions, including targets of 90 grams of carbs per hour building toward 120 grams per hour.
- Ella shares the supplement and race-day protocols she uses, including creatine, beta alanine, sodium bicarbonate, and caffeine.
Please note that this podcast is created strictly for educational purposes and should never be used for medical diagnosis or treatment.
ABOUT ELLA COSSILL:
Ella Cossill is an elite New Zealand rower, who has represented her country on the national team since 2023. Ella attended and rowed on the team at University of Washington, where she became a standout member of the Huskies women’s rowing team, earning multiple All-American and All-Pac-12 honors, as well as named the 2021 Pac-12 Women’s Rowing Athlete of the Year. She helped lead her crew to an NCAA bronze medal in 2021 and silver in 2023. She also earned her degree in Food Systems, Nutrition & Health at the university.
Since joining New Zealand’s elite rowing programm, Ella has competed at World Cups and World Rowing Championships. In 2023, she helped New Zealand’s women’s four secure qualification for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games with a seventh-place finish at the World Championships.
In 2025, Ella placed 5th at the world championships in the women’s quad, and recently won both silver and bronze at the Rowing World Cup 1 and 2 in Spain and Bulgaria. Her team placed 8th at world championships in this boat class, as well as 6th in the women's eight.
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TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 - Welcome to the show and Ella’s rower background
00:30 - Two truths and a lie
02:11 - What professional rowing looks like at the elite level
03:35 - How long a two K rowing race takes
03:54 - National team structure and training blocks
05:36 - Returning to full training after World Champs
06:41 - Weekly training hours and cross-training
07:13 - Why Ella’s 7,000-calorie day resonated
08:23 - Fueling enough even on recovery weeks
09:20 - Adjusting to eating more after swimming
10:23 - Realizing low energy was a fueling issue, not fitness
11:15 - Weight classes, lightweight rowing, and minimum bodyweight goals
12:06 - Mass, power, and what matters in rowing
13:21 - Injury risk, especially ribs and bone stress
14:19 - Why rowing culture around body size feels healthier
15:33 - What Ella eats first thing in the day
16:45 - Raro, carb drinks, and 90 to 120 grams of carbs per hour
17:34 - How she fuels long rows and handles GI issues
18:56 - Fueling on the water with stop points and bottles
20:15 - Post-session carb targets and recovery naps
21:06 - Naps, sleep, and recovery habits
22:21 - Protein happening naturally when carbs are high enough
23:36 - Gym sessions after rowing volume
24:32 - What a rowing gym session focuses on
25:35 - Switching from port to starboard side in the boat
26:28 - Quick top-ups before lifting
27:06 - Gym fueling snacks and pre-made drinks
27:52 - Post-gym recovery and snack timing
28:39 - Whether she uses pre-bed fuel
29:22 - Garmin, heart rate straps, power, and lactate testing
30:23 - Creatine, beta alanine, and bicarbonate use
30:46 - Bicarbonate capsules, timing, and tolerance
32:16 - How the squad splits bicarbonate doses
33:16 - Race-day meal timing before bicarb and warm-up
34:17 - Ella’s bicarbonate timing sweet spot
35:23 - Caffeine strategy for afternoon races
37:03 - Doubling up for multiple races in one day
38:21 - Bicarbonate, thirst, and bloating
39:22 - What bicarbonate side effects feel like
40:34 - How the team avoids illness and injury
42:08 - What Ella would tell freshman-year Ella about fueling
44:19 - Why swimming taught her the wrong body ideals
45:30 - Where to follow Ella
46:01 - Two truths and a lie reveal
47:16 - The four countries Ella has lived in
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