35th East German Canoe Sprint Championships

Canoe Sprint at Beetzsee — Brandenburg's Olympic Course

The Beetzsee Regatta Course in Brandenburg an der Havel is one of Germany's outstanding water sports facilities. On the 6 km long, east-west oriented lake with barely perceptible waves, national squads in canoe sprint and rowing have been training since the 1950s. Several Olympic champions, including Birgit Fischer and Stefan Henze, laid their foundations here.

From July 3rd to 5th, 2026, Regattateam Brandon Beetzsee e.V. will host the 35th East German Canoe Sprint Championships — an event that oscillates between a sporting spectacle and a public festival (Volksfest): top performance on the water, free admission for spectators, full grandstands on the Beetzsee shore.

Competition Format

The ODM are divided into several boat classes and distances:

• Kayak Singles (K1): 200 m, 500 m, 1000 m, 5000 m
• Kayak Doubles (K2): 200 m, 500 m, 1000 m
• Kayak Fours (K4): 500 m, 1000 m
• Canoe Singles (C1) and Canoe Doubles (C2): identical distances

The competition is held across four age groups — pupils, juniors, youth, seniors — as well as men and women. This results in around 200 individual races spread over three days.

German Championship Qualification and Significance

The East German Championships have a clear sporting mandate: They are the official qualification for the German Championships, which will be held later in the summer. Athletes who score points here in their discipline secure their starting spot for the German Championships. Thus, the Beetzsee becomes the center of East German elite sports once a year.

Previous editions recorded over 757 athletes from 56 clubs — clubs from Brandenburg, Berlin, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and Thuringia. The grandstands at Beetzsee can accommodate several thousand spectators and are usually fully occupied on final days.

Public Festival Atmosphere and Free Admission

What distinguishes the ODM from purely sporting major events is the atmosphere: free admission, catering and food stalls along the shore, stage commentary of the races, family entertainment during breaks. This attracts thousands of families from Brandenburg and Berlin to the Havel in addition to water sports insiders — a tradition that is part of the city's identity.