The Munich Olympic Regatta Course ? A rich history

Munich – designed for coaches and rowers alike
© Getty Images

The Olympic Regatta Course in Oberschleissheim, Munich is Bernd Schumacher’s second home. It’s been that way for the past twelve years when he started working for the Olympic Park. Now the Chairman, Schumacher is at the forefront of organising this weekend’s BearingPoint Rowing World Cup.

As a rower, Schumacher saw the venue from the athlete’s side when he was a spare for the East German team at the 1972 Olympics. Built specifically for these Olympics the venue boasts a stadium with seating for 9,500 spectators and pictures show a packed attendance. At this time only men competed in rowing. Seven events were raced and the dominant country was East Germany who won medals in every race. 

The park is now a multipurpose venue with music concerts being a feature since 1973. International rowing has also continued to flourish at the park and in 1997 the Olympia Regattaverein Munich hosted the first ever Rowing World Cup in its present-day form. Since then it has been a World Cup stopover every year except 1999.

The park has been hosting a number of South American development countries ? Brazil, El Salvador, Guatemala, Venezuela, Argentina and Chile ? as they prepare for the upcoming World Cup. Further countries have been arriving over this past weekend and the large German contingent will move from their various training bases around Germany to arrive on Thursday.

For this weekend’s World Cup spectator numbers at the course may not be as prevalent as in 1972, but live broadcast on Eurosport will ensure wider audience involvement. Broadcast is scheduled for two hours from 10am CET on finals day, Sunday.

There is a chance of rain during the regatta with temperatures reaching the low twenties.