"I have a huge amount of experience even though I'm quite young. I have a huge amount to learn still and I learn from my mistakes quite quickly.
"I think you need to be ambitious in this sport, you have to be driven and you just have to go for it," she added, regarding her perceived lofty ambitions.
McMahon has taken the title of the youngest Irish sailor to qualify for the Games, an accolade that isn't going to hold her back, insisting it's an advantage.
The Irish sailing protégé is mature beyond her years thanks to early mentorship from Olympic silver medallist Annalise Murphy and reigning Olympic champion in her category Anne-Marie Rindom.
One thing being around an Olympic champion has taught her, is the lack of pressure on her shoulders going in to her first Olympics is only a good thing.
"I feel like I'm going in as an underdog and I feel like that's a real advantage. I have been training alongside Anne-Marie (Rindom), she is defending her gold so I have seen how she is dealing with things in the run up to these games and she has been giving her experiences as well so I'm going to use it to my advantage," explained the Howth native.
The aim for Paris, or Marseille, if you are a sailor, is to treat it like any other competition, explains McMahon: "I'm just trying to keep my head on the ground, everyone is kind of hyping it and it is a great achievement but I'm going to go in there and treat it like any other event.
"I really just want to enjoy the experience; there has been a lot of hard work put into it, there is nothing extra I can do now and I don't want to change anything during the games.
"So I'm just going to go in there and do what I usually do and hopefully it will work," said the 20-year-old of her plans for the Olympic regatta.
McMahon trained with Olympic silver medallist Annalise Murphy in the run up to Tokyo 2020 and has been priming herself to reach the global stage from a young age.
"It's been a dream since I was a little girl. Of course I have seen Annalise grow up doing it, going to her first games in London.
"I have always wanted to experience that feeling, race with the best and I want to hopefully be one of the best one day," said McMahon.
McMahon's ambitions are not just personal, her brothers are keen sailors, with elder brother Ewan missing out to Finn Lynch for the men's dinghy spot.
The laser focus must run in the family as McMahon's brother Ewan has returned to Marseille to prepare for LA in 2028 already.
McMahon explains that she has had a good experience with Irish sailing and reflects that her sibling has been supportive despite not making the team for Paris.
"He has had a different experience with Irish sailing than me which is a bit unfortunate to be honest with you.
"But he has been there sailing with me, helping me with training and watching videos and I know he is very happy (for me)," added McMahon.
It is easy to forget that McMahon was a teenager not long ago; other young people are heading off for a summer of fun but McMahon realises how her experiences are different.
"God I know it's a different life. These experience's are a once in a lifetime what people dream of and there has been a lot of work put into it and I'm just looking forward to enjoying the experience," said McMahon.
Decorated sailor Murphy is no longer in the water but she has been available to McMahon to offer coaching support and mentoring as she focuses on her cycling and impending wedding.
"If there is ever a time that I'm stuck or he is away or there is a clash for my coach, she is always willing to step in and help. She is a bit busy now as she is planning her wedding.
"I'm sure if I ask her she would hop in for a bit, there are some boats down there that she can use," laughs McMahon.
Irish Sailing performance director O'Callaghan credits Murphy with creating more drive in young female sailors in their development programmes.
"We saw a lot more girls put up their hands and go 'I want to see how far I can go in this'. It's the Annalise factor in our sport," he said.
McMahon is leading the way when it comes to ambition in the upcoming generation of sailors, and we may well be crediting the 'Eve factor' for a boost in sailing after the LA Olympics in 2028.
"I'm one to reach for the stars. I kind of fight them if that are pushing for me not to do an event. I'm listening to them but I know what I want and need to do to prepare for the games," added McMahon of her ambition.
O'Callaghan insists that McMahon isn't being held back, emphasising that her youth is on her side.
"That's part of her strength is that she is so ambitious. She is at the beautiful time in your life where you don't know what you don’t know. She works hard, she is not afraid of anything," added O'Callaghan.
The performance director went on to explain that he is proud of the collaborative approach used in deciding training plans, which has resulted in McMahon negotiating to compete to defend her under-21 world title in Portugal from the 1 to 8 July.
"We changed her programme, she is going out to defend her title as under-21 world champion, but we just felt that she is still learning so much every time she races that it was more important to get her racing and giving her space before the games.
"We aren't going to stop her from being ambitious. Last year she just missed the medal race of the test event so one year on it's definitely within the bounds of possibility.
"She could contend, but for us as Irish sailing if she goes and makes the medal race that would be an outstanding debut games and hopefully she will be around for two of three more games and will be a household name," said O'Callaghan.
McMahon had an astounding junior career winning youth Europeans and Worlds in 2021 and 2022.
Thanks to McMahon's medals, Ireland is one of the most successful nations in the junior ranks of sailing globally despite having less budget and investment compared to other similar sized nations like Denmark and New Zealand.
"In 2022 and 2023 we won 19 youth and developmental medals, we are second only to Italy on the global development table."
He added that the gap between junior and senior competition can be a hard bridge to cross but McMahon has trumped the trend and will also be looking to continue that by trumping others expectations of her in Marseille.
"There is the recognition that our talent pipeline is really strong. The development space is that bridge, you are at the bottom of the senior fleet getting no results for four years... unless you are Eve McMahon."
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