The research commissioned by the British Gas SwimBritain campaign found that people in London are the most likely to be chained to their chairs with 32 per cent sitting for an average of at least 11.5 hours in a working day.

In the midlands, only 18.4 per cent spend this amount of time sitting down while nearly 79 per cent of people surveyed said they would like to be more active.

Simmonds launched the report alongside six-time swimming world champion Mark Foster and the 18-year-old from Walsall said she would like to see more people in the pool than on their chairs.

"I'm shocked that so many people spend so much time sitting down, though most of them do say they'd like to be more active," said Simmonds, who won two gold medals at the London 2012 Paralympics.

"So I'm trying to encourage people to join the British Gas SwimBritain campaign and set themselves the challenge of swimming regularly.

"Swimming is great for most people as it gets your heart pumping with little strain on the body, so all those people who want to be more active should give it a go."


The British Gas SwimBritain campaign is aiming to help create a healthier nation by getting half a million more people swimming regularly by 2015.

"Many people spend long hours at work sitting down so it's really important that they try and get regular exercise," said Foster.

"It is difficult for many people to get motivated, so SwimBritain will give them a goal and offer support along the way.

"As well as the health and fitness benefits, swimming is refreshing, relaxing and liberating. It's a great escape from the stresses of work and everyday life."

The SwimBritain survey also investigated how much people knew about the benefits of swimming.

More than one in five people weren't aware of any of the key benefits, such as the fact that a gentle swim can burn over 200Kcal in half an hour. 55.7 per cent of people surveyed said they would be more motivated to swim after finding out this information.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]