Waginger See Langstreckenschwimmen

The Waginger See Langstreckenschwimmen is an open water swimming race held in the freshwater basin of Waginger See, in the municipality of Waging am See in Upper Bavaria, Germany. Organized under the umbrella of the Alpen Open Water Cup, the event gathers swimmers from across the region to celebrate endurance swimming in inland Bavarian waters. Competitors make their base on the grassy shoreline at Strandcamping Waging, setting up camp directly along the lake margin where the daily routines of the race unfold. The event takes place in June, bringing swimmers together on a Sunday to take on the scenic traverse across the water. At the heart of the sporting program, an open-water course measuring approximately five kilometers, running point-to-point from the northern village of Taching down to Kurhaus Waging, is currently being evaluated. Swimmers stepping into the shallows enter remarkably friendly conditions for an Alpine-adjacent basin. In past editions, the lake water temperature registered around 20 degrees Celsius, providing comfortable racing without the numbing bite often encountered in high-altitude mountain venues.

The Strandcamping shore and the triangle off the Kurhaus

The 2026 notice for the Waginger See Langstreckenschwimmen places start and finish in the lake directly in front of the Kurhaus in Waging am See. Swimmers follow a triangular course in front of the Strandcamping, marked by large arena buoys. In 2024 the 1,900-metre course was marked with three turning buoys and several direction buoys, and swimmers went around it twice. Several regional water rescue teams, led by the DLRG Traunstein, secure the course. Wetsuits are compulsory at a water temperature of 17.9 degrees or lower and banned above 23.9 degrees. The first long-distance swim at Waginger See took place on Sunday 19 September 2021 within the Alpen Open Water Cup, when 98 swimmers covered 1.9 km or two laps for 3.8 km and some finished in under 50 minutes.

Waginger See: the warmest glacial waters of Upper Bavaria

The wide water sheet that hosts the competition owes its existence to the colossal forces of the Salzach glacier during the final ice age. As the glacial ice retreated, it left behind a continuous water body covering 8.98 square kilometers of surface area, forming the joint basin shared by Waginger See and Tachinger See. Tachinger See forms the northern arm of this ancient geological furrow, extending across a length of approximately four kilometers and spanning one kilometer from bank to bank. Along its eastern shore, the lake rises abruptly into steep, partially forested banks that enclose the water and lend the scenery a secluded, sheltered character. Waginger See holds the title of the warmest lake in Upper Bavaria, with surface temperatures climbing as high as 27 degrees Celsius during the height of the summer season.

Even its northern sibling, Tachinger See, regularly reaches peak summer marks of 27 degrees Celsius. When harsh winters grip the foothills, both water bodies can freeze over, but Tachinger See forms an ice sheet a few days earlier than Waginger See because of lower local temperatures and weaker internal currents. Another hidden aquatic gem in the district of Petting is the Weidsee, a secluded basin resting at an altitude of 448 meters. The lake extends over roughly eight hectares, with a length of 500 meters, a width of 220 meters, and reaches a maximum depth of 18 meters. Having no natural surface inflows or outflows, this tranquil water body sits completely cradled within a 100-hectare landscape protection area. On its southern shore, the historic architecture of Schloss Seehaus stands overlooking the peaceful water.

The severed shorelines and bridge strait of Tachinger See

In the nineteenth century, the natural passage separating Tachinger See and Waginger See spanned a generous width of 155 meters. To facilitate the construction of a crossing road bridge, builders artificially constricted this open waterway down to a narrow bottleneck of just 20 meters. This slender passage is a visible reminder of how local engineering reshaped the shoreline geography. A still more dramatic modification reshaped the contour of the entire basin in 1867. Local authorities undertook extensive engineering works to reclaim agricultural land, lowering the runoff outlet along the Götzinger Achen. This artificial intervention triggered an abrupt two-meter drop in the lake's water level. As the waters receded, the historic center of the market town of Waging am See was left situated well away from the actual shoreline, marooned behind newly exposed expanses of shore. The complete water surface of Waginger See and Tachinger See is publicly owned by the Free State of Bavaria. Management of the basin falls under the stewardship of the Bavarian administration of palaces and lakes.

Seiches of Anton Endrös and the Höllenbach delta

In 1905, limnological researcher Anton Endrös conducted pioneering studies across the basin, identifying more than ten distinct periodic oscillations in the lake levels. His measurements documented subtle standing waves with a maximum vertical fluctuation of 75 millimeters. The longest uninodal longitudinal oscillation, which sweeps through both connected lakes, completes its full periodic cycle in approximately 62 minutes. At the same time, Waginger See exhibits its own independent uninodal longitudinal oscillation with a rhythmic period of around 17 minutes. Where the Höllenbach enters the lake near the local camping grounds, it has formed a distinct land tongue through steady sediment deposits. Water quality along the stream and throughout the main lake improved significantly after the construction of a dedicated municipal sewage treatment plant in Waging am See, ensuring clean, fresh conditions for open water swimming.

Another major tributary feeding the basin is the Zintenbach, which stretches for approximately five kilometers. Originating near the Mooshäuser district at an altitude of 532 meters, the stream collects water from several drainage ditches before descending to 442 meters to discharge into the lake near the hamlet of Krautenbach. Alongside the Höllenbach, the Zintenbach ranks as one of the two longest tributaries entering Waginger See. The Schinderbach runs for roughly two kilometers, formed by the confluence of the Lohbach and Dobelbach. When measured from its longest headwater, the total waterway system extends for more than 12 kilometers. The Schinderbach empties into Waginger See right at the Schwanenplatz campsite, marking another quiet corner of the shoreline. Waginger See stands as a remarkably warm and welcoming open-water haven for endurance swimmers.