The Irish Times/Sport Ireland Sportswoman Award for April: Eve McMahon (Sailing)
It was just a few weeks back that we recalled the reaction of Kate O’Connor, our sportswoman of the month for March, when she “only” won pentathlon bronze at the World Indoor Championships. “Is it awful that I’m a little bit disappointed in myself,” she had asked.
There was a slight sense of deja vu when chatting with our sportswoman of the month for April, Eve McMahon. “I was, of course, disappointed,” she said of ‘only’ winning silver at French Olympic Week, in what was the second sailing Grand Slam of the season. “It was a little bittersweet.”
Just a handful of weeks before, she’d won gold in the season’s opening Grand Slam in Mallorca, so she couldn’t but see missing out on a second medal of that shade – by a single point – as a let-down.
“I had to check myself,” she laughs. “Yeah, I was definitely disappointed at first, I’d got myself in to gold medal position on the final day, did absolutely everything I could, but lost out to the American girl, Charlotte Rose.”
“And at first, you’re focusing on your mistakes, focusing on the medal you lost rather than the one you won. So you do have to remind yourself that you’ve won two massive medals in one month. Yeah, I can be hard on myself, but that’s where my coach Vasilij Zbogar is really good for me.”
“There are some days I’d be fuming coming off the water, and he’d be going ‘Eve, you have to allow yourself one or two bad races, and sometimes things aren’t in your control – and if they were in your control, let’s learn from them. Vasilij is a three time Olympic medallist so he has so much experience, he’s been through it all. To work with someone that grounded really, really helps.”
Having enjoyed nigh on endless success in the junior ranks, the 22-year-old from Howth, a former world under-21 champion, found the move up to senior level effortless enough because she’d dabbled at that level since she was 15.
“I was getting demolished by the girls back then, but I was gaining so much experience and learning just how harsh the fleet can be. It’s cut-throat – you lose a couple of inches and you go from top five to bottom five on the race course. The senior fleet is, quite literally, a game of inches.
“But that experience meant that when I officially moved up to senior level, it wasn’t a shock for me. I had a couple of great results, but I was inconsistent, still learning. I was definitely an underdog going in to those two events in April, but I noticed a shift in the other girls’ attitude towards me after that gold in Palma.
“You don’t expect anything on the racecourse, but there are tight crosses when usually boats will let you go through. But there was none of that happening in France, everyone was doing everything they could to keep me behind them. I think they have a huge amount of respect for me now, and I have a huge amount of respect for them. Everything’s fair. I’m happy to battle it out with the top sailors.”
There really shouldn’t be anything more irritating for athletes than being asked incessantly about their Olympic ambitions, like there are no other major prizes to be won in their sports. But while McMahon is eyeing success in those in-between events, starting with the European Championships in Croatia next week, she’s not shy about pinning her ambitions to that Olympic mast.
Is that, ultimately, what she is building towards? “Definitely. It’s the pinnacle of every sport. We have these major events, the World Championships, the European Championships, sailing Grand Slams, they’re huge and it’s great to get results in them. But at the end of the day, my focus is on LA, working towards it, and, hopefully, getting a medal.”
As a 20-year-old greenhorn, McMahon made her Olympic debut in Paris last time around, finishing 13th in her ILCA 6 Dinghy class. Will she be a very different prospect in LA? “Absolutely. I don’t feel like I’ve hit anywhere near the performance level I can reach, so that’s really exciting for me, to see where I can go.”
“When you have this big goal in your head and you can see a way to it, you just have to put in the work. And although the grind is going to be tough, as long as you put in the hard yards you’ll see the results pay off. I think I’ll be one to watch in LA.”
It’s a wonder that McMahon found time to chat at all. She’s in Croatia this week preparing for those European Championships, while also sitting two of her final year commerce exams – with her coach as her invigilator.
“I sit under his supervision and then I sit my final exam when I come back home after the Europeans. UCD have been absolutely amazing in terms of helping me balance my studies and sailing, it’s crazy to think that I’ve almost got a degree in my back pocket while sailing full-time.”
“True, I didn’t really get to experience the student lifestyle along the way, but I have no regrets. There aren’t too many people who get to compete at the Olympics, at the World Championships, the European Championships. There’s no point looking over my shoulder, I’m so lucky to be doing what I’m doing, and I absolutely love it.”
A poser: Gold in the Europeans, or first class honours in commerce?
“Can I have both?” No.
“Well, it would have to be gold. I lost a gold medal at the French Olympic Week. So I’m out for revenge. To get my medal back.”
Eve McMahon? Still not checking herself.
Source: Mary Hannigan, The Irish Times