"It's about time we beat Columbia" reads the blackboard in Harvard's fencing room.

It certainly is about time someone beat the Lion swordsmen, who have lost only one Ivy League match in breezing to league titles the past seven years. Crimson coach Edo Marion feels his team can turn the trick in tomorrow's league opener in the IAB.

"I think definitely we should win," Marion said last night. "But fencing is a psychological confrontation as well as a sport. Against Columbia, we will have a tremendous inferiority complex to overcome."

We're Great

Harvard swordsmen have little reason to feel inferior to the Lions this season. Columbia has already lost to C.C.N.Y., a team which the Crimson slashed 17-10.

Marion anticipates one problem tomorrow -- close bouts. Statistics show Harvard has lost 80 per cent of its 5-4 bouts in the past two seasons. Winning close bouts comes with experience, and with many former New York public school champions, Columbia has a distinct edge in experience. "They always are able to bear down in the clutch," Marion said.