Sharon Beckman

Photo of Sharon Beckman from Out of the Channel and Into Criminal Justice Reform by Jess Rivilis

Illustration of Sharon Beckman by Mark Steele of Harvard Magazine

Sharon Beckman is a former American competitive swimmer at Harvard University (backstroke and middle-distance freestyle), a former open water swimmer and currently a law professor at Boston College and record-setting masters swimmer. She received a bachelor’s degree from Harvard, a law degree from the University of Michigan, and completed two clerkships on the United States Supreme Court and the U.S. Court of Appeals on the First Circuit.

Swimming Career Highlights

• She currently serves on the United States Masters Swimming National Board of Review.
• She has set age-group records in the United States Masters Swimming competitions.
• She swam across the English Channel from England to France on 28 August 1982 in 9 hours 6 minutes at the age of 24 escorted by Reg Brickell. She became the first New England woman to swim the English Channel and trained following a single-spaced 8-page letter with advice from Jon Erikson.
• She won the 10-mile (12.8 km) Boston Light Swim in Boston Harbor in September 1982 in 3 hours 7 minutes.
• She competed in the 22.5-mile (36.2 km) Atlantic City Around The Island Swim in 1983.
• She competed in the 42 km Traversee internationale du lac Memphremagog in 1983 and finished 3rd in the 1983 World Professional Marathon Swimming Federation circuit.
• She competed in the 10-mile (16.1 km) Lake Michigan professional marathon swim in 1978.
• She competed in the 10-mile (16.1 km) Lake Michigan professional marathon swim in 1977.

Professional Career

Professor Beckman is the Director of the Boston College Innocence Program and Co-Director of the Boston College Criminal Justice Clinic, and a Boston College Law School professor.

1977 World Professional Marathon Swimming Federation Rankings

Men

1. John Kinsella (USA) 1,375 points
2. Bill Heiss (USA) 1,033 points
3. Claudio Plit (Argentina) 932 points
4. Jon Erikson (USA) 604 points
5. Magdy Mandour (Egypt) 563 points
6. Raul Villagomez (Mexico) 556 points
7. Amin Yousseff (Egypt) 550 points
8. Marwan Saleh (Syria) 477 points
9. Ray Dixon (England) 433 points
10. Dennis Matuch (USA) 426 points
11. James Barry (USA) 391 points
12. Nasser El Shazly (Egypt) 331 points
13. Magdy Farid (Egypt) 225 points
14. Ibrahim Feidalla (Egypt) 205 points
15. Baher Hamid (Egypt) 192 points
16. Martin Neiman (USA) 184 points
17. Guy Montpetit (Canada) 158 points
18. Ossama Rachad (Egypt) 150 points
19. Wayne Westman (USA) 133 points
20. Sultan Kigab (Sudan) 131 points
21. Mohamad Gamie (Egypt) 120 points

Women

1. Loreen Passfield (Canada) 1,375 points
2. Cynthia Nicholas (Canada) 1,054 points
3. Kim Lumsdon (Canada) 545 points
4. Corrie Dixon (Holland) 483 points
5. Nazala Moustafa (Egypt) 404 points
6. Omneya Tantawi (Egypt) 379 points
7. Sharon Beckman (USA) 245 points
8. Martha Stortz (USA) 210 points

External links

• Sharon Beckman Rocks With Radcliffe
• Sharon Beckman, From Title IX To 8 Pages And Beyond
• When The Machine Dominated, A Look At The Pro Circuit In 1977
• Let Equality Ring, Cashing In On A College Scholarship
• The State of Female Opportunities In Sport In The U.S.
• A Possible Future For American Female Collegiate Athletic Opportunities
• The Life And Times Of Jim Doty
• World Professional Marathon Swimming Federation
• World Open Water Swimming Association
• Open Water Swimming
• Daily News of Open Water Swimming
• Marathon Swimming
• Out of the Channel and Into Criminal Justice Reform
• Sharon Beckman, Associate Clinical Professor and Faculty Director, Boston College Innocence Program
• The Life And Times of Jim Doty
• Harvard Magazine, page 22
• Conquering The Channel Just Dreamy For Swimmer
• World Marathon Swimming Association