London, ON - Western's prestigious Purple Blankets are presented to the student athletes who, in the opinion of the Selection Committee, achieved superior distinction at the Provincial/National level of competition as representatives of Western.

Aidan Hembruff of the Mustangs Rowing team is a 2026 recipient of this honour.



A multi-time OUA & national champion, Hembruff has been an OUA All-Star all 5 seasons he has been at Western.

Aidan has provided outstanding leadership over his four years in the Captain's role. In 2024 he was named Rowing Canada's under-23 athlete of the year. This was reflective of his international career up to that point, where in 2023 his under-23 crew was selected to compete at the Senior World Cup in Lucerne. Beyond this, he competed in the Grand Challenge Cup at Henley 2024 and our Visitor's 4- in 2025 which is a highly prestigious competition reserved for the most elite teams.

He's participated in several High-performance National Team camps, projects and has since been Nationally carded. Within the Mustangs program, Aidan has multiple tests that have been listed in the top 5 all-time leaderboard.

Hembruff shares what it meant to win a purple blanket and also a few key memories of his time as a Mustang.



Congratulations Aidan on this well deserved honour. The full list of Purple Blanket winners can be found HERE.