Adam Peaty, the one British swimmer to defend an Olympic title, has always been box office.
He has never needed sequins and lycra to make the point. Budgie smugglers and goggles have been enough.
Yet on Saturday evening he will dress up not down.
He will swap chlorine for spray tan, swim coach Mel Marshall for dance partner Katya Jones, morning finals in Tokyo for a prime-time TV slot on Strictly Come Dancing .
And sensing some will wonder if this marks the beginning of the end of his pool days, he dives straight in. No dancing round the subject.
“Strictly is the challenge I need at this time,” he says firmly. "If I want to thrive, not survive, I need to take a step back from swimming and be away from it for a while.
“Strictly will push me out of my comfort zone, allow me to think about whether I do things differently from now on.
“The fairy tale for me is to win in Paris and then to win in LA - four Olympic gold medals in an individual event.
“But that isn’t just going to happen. As soon as you stop thinking you get complacent and comfortable. You don’t grow in comfort. I want, no I need, to continue to push myself.”
Peaty admits to being a “showman and an entertainer” but is adamant exposure to Strictly and the inevitable attention that comes with it will not derail him.
“As bad as it sounds I enjoy suffering. I enjoy being uncomfortable,” he said. “That’s just who I am. How I’m built.
“I’ve never sweated so much in my life as I am training for this. But working with professional dancers has already given me so many different ideas as to how high-performance can work."
Until now Peaty has spent his life being judged only by the clock. Artistic impression was always for gymnasts and divers.
He reckons he will cope but, as with everything on Strictly , recognises he is stepping into the unknown.
“You’re going to see me doing some really funky stuff,” he said. “But my aim is to be in Paris in 2024 for swimming, not dancing.
“That will be the first Olympics my son is old enough to see and being there for him would give me an unbelievable adrenaline rush.”
That does not sound like a man done with swimming and there’s more. Peaty feels a responsibility to drive up both participation numbers and funding.
Britain’s historic medal haul in Japan was set against a backdrop of more than 300 public pool closures at home.
“We need facilities to open and stay open and be supported,” said the CUPRA ambassador. “We’ve got to convert our Olympic success into something.
“That for me is the grass roots: getting more people active. Not just for sport but safety and health and everything that goes with it.
“We know the value of these facilities and now, with our success on the Olympic stage, there are no excuses for the government.”
Adam Peaty drives the CUPRA Formentor, the high-performance coupé crossover SUV. For more information visit www.cupraofficial.co.uk
