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World Champion Sailor Eve McMahon is Shortlisted for RTÉ Sport Young Sportsperson of the Year

9th December 2023
ILCA6 U21 World Champion Eve McMahon of Howth is Shortlisted for RTÉ Sport Young Sportsperson of the Year
ILCA6 U21 World Champion Eve McMahon of Howth is Shortlisted for RTÉ Sport Young Sportsperson of the Year

 Irish Sailor of the Year Eve McMahon is on the six-strong shortlist for the RTÉ Sport Young Sportsperson of the Year.

The 2023 nominees include a Munster number eight, a Premier League star, two medal winners at the European U20 Athletics Championships, and world champions in sailing and para-swimming.

The 2023 nominees for RTÉ Sport Young Sportsperson of the Year include a Munster number eight, a Premier League star, two medal winners at the European U20 Athletics Championships, and world champions in sailing and para-swimmingThe 2023 nominees for RTÉ Sport Young Sportsperson of the Year include a Munster number eight, a Premier League star, two medal winners at the European U20 Athletics Championships, and world champions in sailing and para-swimming

As regular Afloat readers know, the transition from ultra-successful international junior sailing to youth and adult competition can be a tricky one, but ILCA-racing Gold Medal-winning multiple junior champion Eve McMahon of Howth found the perfect stepping-stone with the ILCA6 U21 Worlds at a breezy Tangiers in October.

The 21-year-old is currently in the hunt for a Paris 2024 Olympic place to bring to three the number of Irish boats heading to Marseille.

Joanne Cantwell and Darragh Maloney will present the RTÉ Sport Awards 2023 live from Studio 4 in RTÉ on Saturday, 16 December.

The awards are handed out on the night live on RTÉ One in front of an audience of Irish sports stars, including RTÉ Sport Sportsperson of the Year, RTÉ Sport Team of the Year, RTÉ Sport Manager of the Year and RTÉ Sport Young Sportsperson of the Year.

The winners will be selected by an independent panel of expert judges from across the Irish sporting media and performance world.

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EVE MCMAHON

Age: 20
World Ranking: 12th (best to date)
Olympic Ranking: 12th
Hometown: Howth, Dublin
Club: Howth YC
Coach: Rory Fitzpatrick

When she was younger, Eve followed in the footsteps of her two older brothers (Ewan and Jamie) and started summer sailing courses in Howth YC at the age of just 7. Although new enough to the senior circuit she started training alongside senior athletes long before this Olympic cycle. She worked as both Anne-Marie Rindom’s DEN (Tokyo Olympic Gold medallist) and Annalise Murphy’s IRL, official training partner for the Tokyo Olympic cycle.

So, it is no surprise that after finishing her time in the youth fleet with a Triple Crown, McMahon then went on to qualify Ireland in the ILCA 6 fleet for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. McMahon would like to be the most successful Irish female, ILCA 6 sailor ever and be a figurehead for women in sport, especially sailing.

  • Paris 2024 Team Ireland Olympian
  • 2023 U21 ILCA 6 World Champion
  • 2022 Youth ILCA 6 World Sailing Champion
  • 2022 Youth ILCA 6 European Championship
  • 2021 ILCA 6 Youth World Championship
  • 2021 U19 Silver Medallist European Championships
  • Afloat Irish Sailor of the Year 2019, 2020 and 2021, 2022 and 2023

Eve was also awarded Afloat’s Sailor of the Year 2023 as well as UCD’s Sportsperson of the Year and was nominated for RTE’s Young Sportsperson of the Year. She is from from Howth Co. Dublin, and on being selected for the Irish Olympic Team she is one of Team Ireland’s Paris Scholars studying International Commerce at UCD.

Eve additionally had the unique opportunity to carry the Olympic Flame on the initial stages of its journey landing in Marseille, France, where she will be competing this summer, on its route to the Olympic Opening Ceremony.

Eve McMahon's 2021 sailing achievements

  • Irish Sailor of the Year 2021
  • Gold Medallist Youth World Championships Italy Highest Ranked Irish Female 
  • Star Sailors league Silver medal at the Youth European Championships Croatia Gold medallist U19,
  • Silver medallist U21 Senior European Championships Bulgaria Race win Senior European Championships Bulgaria
  • Selected Paris 2024 Olympic Solidarity Scholarship Sport Ireland
  • 15th Senior European Championships Bulgaria, 1st Irish Female, securing Sport Ireland Carding.
  • Youth ISAF World Representative Oman, equivalent to Youth Olympic in sailing,
  • 4th overall Guinness World Record Participant Beach Clean up -
  • Oman Gold medallist U19 Allianz World Cup Netherlands
  • Gold medallist U23 Lanzarote International Regatta 4th
  • U21 European Championships Montenegro
  • Nominated for Irish Sailor of The Year
  • Bronze medallist Connaught's Wexford
  • 9th Silver Fleet European Continental Qualification
  • 5th Pre-Qualifciation regatta Lanzarote