Philadelphia has taken a lot of knocks in its time. W.C. Fields, Sonny Liston and Derek Sanderson, have all taken verbal jabs at the Quaker City. Philly has come to be known as the urban armpit of the East Coast. With this background, the suggestion of a trip to Philadelphia should logically elicit groans, right? Wrong.

Or at least not in the case of 14 Radcliffe women who spend a good deal of their time tugging oars on the Charles. For them Philly is the end of the Yellow Brick Road, a potential heaven where the Great Oz will bestow rewards for their perseverance.

Philadelphia has been the ultimate goal for the Radcliffe crew. It is the site of this year's national women's rowing championships. And for the 14 'Cliffe rowers, this has been the impetus for all the trials and achievements of the past ten months.

The Radcliffe squad leaves today for Philly, where it will try to annex the one major title left for them this year--the national women's rowing crown. And riding on the outcome of the Friday-through-Sunday competition is a trip to Moscow, where the winner will represent the United States in the European Games.

Radcliffe will face the cream of the crop of United States women's rowing in the next three days. The 'Cliffe will square off against eleven teams in eights and twelve others in fours. The national women's championships are not a strictly collegiate event. Consequently, the 'Cliffe rowers, many of whom are in their first year of competitive rowing, will be at a distinct disadvantage when they meet veteran rowing-club teams from across the country.

One of the biggest "risks" of the Philadelphia competition will be the match-ups in the preliminary heats. There is no seeding system for the nationals. Conceivably, the best six teams could wind up in the same preliminary heat. Since only the top three teams of the heats will advance to the finals, this set-up increases the pressure on a young team such as Radcliffe, which hasn't had much experience in such pressure-packed national rowing events.

'Cliffe Optimism

'Cliffe coach John Baker is optimistic about Radcliffe's chances. Although his optimism is of a very cautious nature, he feels that Radcliffe has bounced back from its layoff after the Sprints championships last May.

"When we won the Sprints, I was scared that we wouldn't be able to come back after easing off for exams and reading period," Baker said, Tuesday. But right now we are definitely faster than we were at the Sprints."

The Radcliffe eight will be entered in the heavyweight division of the Schuykill River competition. And although Baker hasn't decided on his final line-up he said that he expected to use the same seating that brought the Sprints title home to Radcliffe this Spring.

That would put Anne Robinson at bow, Ginny Smith at two, Connie Cervilla at three, Kathy Sullivan at four, Jenny Getsinger at five, Lillian Hunt at six, Alison Hill at seven, with team captain Charlotte Crane stroking. Nancy Hadley will cox.

In the four, which Baker says is "rowing much, much better than at the Sprints," Radcliffe will feature Kathy Barbash at bow, Judy Levine at two, Debbie Harrington at three and Dotty Kent at stroke. Sally Parker will cox.