Channel Swim Later This Week

Sharon Beckman '80 will attempt to swim the English Channel later this week, probably sometimes between Thursday and Sunday. The former Harvard swimmer has trained with Crimson Coach Stephhanie Walsh and is raising money through pledges for the Harvard-Radcliffe Foundation for Women's Athletics.

"I'm ready, and for the first time in my life, all I'm thinking about is swimming, that's all." Beckmann said last night from her hotel in Folkestone, Kett, England.

The cum laude graduate from the Government Department will her trailed in her attempt by boat pilot R. Brickell, who assisted a swimming coach from Indiana University in making a successful crossing two years ago.

Beckman said she became interested in making the age-old swim from England to France after helping to train another swimmer for the challenge last year. When that woman broke a foot and called off the swim. Beckman decided to give it a try for herself and applied to the Channel Swimming Association for a swim.

In other Harvard news related to England, a movie now being filmed in Great Britain entitled "Invitation to a Wedding," will focus on the adventures of a football player who sets out for Cambridge, England, and ends up in Cambridge, Mass.

Scheduled for a January release, the movie uses genuine Harvard Crimson football equipment, which will be donated to the University after filming is completed. Athletic Director John P. Reardon Jr. '60 reviewed the script before giving permission for the use of the Harvard insignia.

Photographers have already visited the Stadium and the Yard here to take still shots for the film.