Life after Rowing (4/5) - Ionela Cozmiuc

At the end of every Olympic cycle, following the Olympic Games, there’s a flurry of retirements from rowing. After the Paris Olympics it was no different. Over this week World Rowing is highlighting five retirements. They all have different reasons; they all have their own story.

Ionela Cozmiuc was 29 years old when she competed at the Paris Olympics. Her decision to retire was already forming before the Olympic Games began. For some this would be considered quite young – some rowers are still coming into their peak performance in their early 30s or older. For Cozmiuc she had already been to three Olympic Games and at Paris her Games ended with an Olympic medal.

Cozmiuc started rowing at a relatively young age when a scout came to her school.

“I didn’t choose rowing—rowing chose me,” says Cozmiuc. She was in eighth grade when coach Cristian Malis came to her school. There’s was no hesitation in agreeing to take up the sport and Cozmiuc says once she sets her mind to something she’ll do anything to make it happen.

Driven also by failure, Cozmiuc was never satisfied coming back from an international event with just her accreditation badge to show for it.

“I would want even more to win a medal at the next one. I’ve always loved competition, even since school, and I believe that’s what helped me in my sports career.”

Cozmiuc, though found success when she was still young. She was just 21 years old when she qualified for the Rio Olympics. With partner Gianina Van Groningen, the duo finished eighth in the lightweight double sculls. This drove Cozmiuc to truly want a medal.

“By then, I was already a two-time world champion and I was longing for that Olympic medal.”

But it didn’t come. Cozmiuc finished sixth at Tokyo, again with Van Groningen.

After Tokyo Van Groningen retired and Cozmiuc moved into the lightweight single. Her results were terrific. She took out the European Championship title in 2022 and 2023 and also the World Championship title in 2022. Moving back into the lightweight double for the 2023 World Championships, Cozmiuc, paired up with Mariana Dumitru, finished third. Van Groningen then came back to Rowing and they worked towards Paris together.

“Paris 2024 was the edition where I fulfilled my Olympic dream — the long-awaited medal. The feeling of standing on the Olympic podium can’t be put into words. All the hardship and all the work finally made sense when I had that medal around my neck.”

Paris was special for many reasons. With husband and fellow rower Marius Cozmiuc, the duo became the first married couple to serve as flag bearers at the opening ceremony. Also Rowing at the Games was her brother Florin Lehaci and sister-in-law Maria Lehaci.

 Before Paris Cozmiuc was already thinking about retirement. She had been married to Marius since 2017 and they both wanted to start a family. After Paris Cozmiuc decided to step away.

She says the decision was not easy; “It felt like telling someone that, starting tomorrow, they can no longer do what they love. But little by little, I came to terms with the idea, and the fact that we wanted to grow our family made the decision a bit easier.

“I wanted to enjoy one last competition experience — because I knew I would miss it the most — I took part in the World Championships in Canada.”

Without knowing it at the time, Cozmiuc was already 3 – 4 weeks pregnant.

“God has blessed us with a wonderful baby boy, Nicolae-Marius. In a way he’s already a world champion!”

Cozmiuc still stays involved in Rowing as a supporter through her family connections and she’s a member of the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee’s Athletes’ Commission.

“Now I’m a mother and that takes up all of my time.”