The last time he went curling in a swimming pool Bruce Mouat found himself underwater - naked but for a kilt.
Asked to strike a pose for a charity calendar he clung to two curling stones on the bottom whilst blowing bubbles at the camera.
In Beijing tomorrow the Scottish star is back pool side, again in front of a camera, this time intending only to show his gold medal credentials.
The curling competition, which launches these Winter Olympics, takes place at the scene of Rebecca Adlington’s twin triumph at the 2008 Summer Games.
And given that they are world champions Mouat and mixed doubles partner Jen Dodds have high hopes of following her example at a venue changed from Water to Ice Cube.
“I have always been a huge Olympics fan and remember watching Rebecca win her two golds,” said Mouat, 27.
“For that pool with its incredible sporting memories to have been converted into a curling rink - well, I just hope we can add to the history.”
Mouat, you might already have guessed, is a character. Ahead of these Games he was back on Men of Curling calendar duty, this time on a golf course.
“It’s a bit of fun to raise money for charity,” he said, telling how he and team mates Hammy McMillan, Bobby Lammie and Grant Hardie stripped to their boxer shorts and 'modelled' on a golf buggy.
After his pool shot two years ago Mouat said some of his family were shocked. “They were like: ‘Am I allowed to hang this on my wall?!’”
So this time he kept the shock rating to a minimum by ensuring no golfers were about when they stripped off.
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The shock here in the Chinese capital, starting against Sweden tomorrow, will be if he and Dodds don’t feature prominently in the medal battle.
They are such a tight unit that they have keys to each other’s house and are known to finish each other’s sentences.
That togetherness helped them win the world title and they are fiercely determined to add Britain’s first Olympic curling gold for 20 years.
“People always remind me that the Olympics is different and that going to your first one and competing at a high level is pretty difficult to do,” Mouat said.
“But we’ve had a lot of success on the international stage over the last two years so it’s not unrealistic for us to look at a medal.”
Make that two, for Mouat’s men’s rink are also among the favourites and have sharpened their focus still further by spending hours during the pandemic analysing their opponents’ play in forensic detail.
The dream is to follow in the footsteps of Rhona Martin, whose golden moment in Salt Lake City inspired Mouat into the sport.
“I was seven and that was pretty much why dad first took me along to the ice rink,” he said.
“Curling does not run in my family, I didn’t have any relation who curled before me.
“So to be here, with Rhona in the commentary box, trying to emulate her makes this very special for me.”
