Photo of Newell Boathouse courtest of DSPICS.com.

Five former Harvard oarsmen were selected to the Oxford University rowing team and will race Thursday for a spot in the Blue boat at the historic Oxford/Cambridge race in April.

Simon Gawlik, Mortiz Hafner and William Rueter, all 2009 graduates of Harvard, will row together in the Perky boat along the Boat Race course against eight other Oxford rowers. Coaches will select the eight oarsmen and coxswain for the Blue, which will race April 3 against Cambridge. Boatings will be announced four weeks prior to the race.

Gawlik and Rueter were heavyweight rowers for the Crimson, while Hafner rowed for the lightweight squad at Harvard. Gawlik rowed in the varsity eight for three years and was a member of the 2007 EARC Sprint championship boat, the crew that won the Ladies Challenge Plate at Henley and the varsity eight that won silver at the 2009 Sprints.

Rueter won numerous Sprints medals rowing in the second and third varsities for the Crimson. Hafner won a silver medal at Sprints and at the IRA National Championships as the stroke of the lightweight varsity eight. This summer he competed at the World Cup in the pair and placed sixth in the eight at the World Championship in the German national boat.

Olympians Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss '04 made the team and are contenders for the Blue boat but will not participate in the scrimmage due to exams. The Winklevoss twins finished sixth in the pair at the 2008 Beijing games.