Adam Peaty: Olympic and world champion swimmer building legacy outside pool

Peaty joyously kicked up dust on a football pitch, and took plenty of satisfaction in flexing his muscles with a jaw-dropping push-up routine, but with every action he was acutely aware what being there in person would mean to changing the circumstances of those around him.

“This is who I am, I love to give back,” he said. “When I was first here, aged 17, it was a massive learning curve. It was great to get a perspective of the real world and how the real world is.

“That is especially important when you start winning medals and breaking world records – it can get out of your head a bit.

“Yes, you do like fast cars and nice clothes, but it is a fine balance. That is equilibrium at the end of the day.

“It is great to come back here and give back to so many people.”

And it went far beyond fun and games in a park, as money raised for The Perfect Day Foundation – a charity for which Marshall is an ambassador – went towards helping fit out the girls’ dormitory at an orphanage in Lusaka.

Getting 30 girls off the street, away from the threat of abuse, was the group’s immediate concern on one of their many stops.

“Girls here have a really hard time, they are just not treated the same – their childhood is filled with rape and with abuse. It is just accepted. They have no voice, no nothing,” said Marshall, one of Britain’s top coaches, who has had Peaty under her tutelage for a number of years.

“The girl side of it really means a lot to me. No female deserves to be less, to accept that they are lower in the pecking order.”