This week’s outdoorsy pick: 1972 Summer Olympics Regatta
With a length of about 2 km there’s a wonderful 1972 Olympic summer games leftover water basin. The place is, however, fully in use with various rowing teams training there. There is a swimming area of the basin that stretches the length of the 500 m audience tribune. Along the regatta waters run paved paths for people to enjoy a run, bike, roller/board skate, or other options of physical activity. For volleyball enthusiasts there are designated courts as well.
Vert close by is the Regatta park lake, which is a great big lake with up to 16 meters in depth — and like any other lake it has a gradual increase from the shore to when it starts to lead up onto the central island. All across the area it is forbidden to grill, be naked (this is after all Bavaria), and have your dogs go for a swim. At the north-end of the lake there’s however a kiosk that offers your typical regional breads, meats and drinkables — in this end, on weekends during the summer season (May-Sept), there is also the comfort of a lifeguard watch.
Architecturally, the place is a mixture of smooth German engineering and Austrian art. On the backside of the tribunes there are two pieces of deconstructuvist art by Hans Kastler which together with the architect Michael Eberl lead to the winning of the 1975 Goslarer Prize. Likewise, the little “Fest und Feuerplatz” (meaning party and fire square) hidden away behind the bushes offers its visitors an industrial spot to experience a camping-like atmosphere. Here, it’s of course allowed to grill! An insider tip told me that this is where the olympic rowers used to come to let loose — in many different understandings of the expression!
Finally worth mentioning is the extremely clean water quality (possible to check live-updates at https://www.muenchen.de/rathaus/Stadtverwaltung/Referat-fuer-Gesundheit-und-Umwelt/Hygiene_und_Umweltmedizin/Badegewaesser.html). So clean that they’ve submerged some local crab fish at-risk of extinction. But don’t worry about those, they’re more afraid of you than you are of them and choose to hide in the deep dark depths.
Address for GPS: Dachauer Straße 35, 85764 Oberschleißheim
Paid parking
Also, perfectly accessible through the Munich-North biking routes
https://www.bikemap.net/en/regional/Germany/Bavaria/Munich/
