Entering the final day of competition, East House continued to maintain a lead over South House in the Radcliffe swimming marathon, but the Margie? was an extremely slim one and a large turnout of swimmers this afternoon could easily reverse the standings.

Any resident at the Cliffe can swim up to 100 lengths of the Radcliffe pool today between 12:45 and 1:45 p.m. and contribute to her or his House's total.

The specific count of the individual houses was not available last night, but Mrs. Alice McCabe, director of the marathon. indicated that East House was holding its lead while South and North Houses trailed close behind.

Largest Ever?

Mrs. McCabe predicted that this year's marathon could be the largest spring marathon ever. "With a substantial turnout today, we'll probably set a new record." she said. The fall marathon traditionally draws a slightly larger number of participants.

After the first two days of competition, South House established a slight edge (1455-1451) over East House. But at Tuesday dinner in the Whitman (East House) dining room Whitman co-president Tom Sterne rose to his feet and made a stirring plea.

"Ahhhhhhh . . . . if you're not doing anything tomorrow afternoon-we're all going swimming-so ahhhh . . . why don't you come along," Sterne argued. The reaction was overwhelming as East House rushed to a 2449-2164 advantage the next day, while North House trailed with 1872 lengths.