Several College Teams Stranded En Route to, From Puerto Rico After US Strikes in Venezuela

The United States’ military strikes on Venezuela, which includes the capturing of Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro, has disrupted training trips for several collegiate swimming & diving programs.

NCAA Division I programs Holy Cross, Cleveland State, and American University were all scheduled for trips to Puerto Rico this week. American University says their flight has been canceled, Holy Cross swimmers tell SwimSwam that their trip has been canceled, and Cleveland State was planning to leave on Monday and was told that it was “50/50” if they make it.

ACC program Duke is currently stuck in Puerto Rico and are hoping to fly out Monday. NCAA Division III powerhouse NYU was supposed to take Duke’s place at the hotel on Sunday, but were unable to travel.

Boston College is already in Puerto Rico, but isn’t scheduled to fly out until January 8th, so their plans should not be impacted.

Loyola University (MD) is also in San Juan and are scheduled to race at the Copa Coqui on Sunday, though as of now it’s not clear if that meet is still happening.

Updates:

• 5:32 pm: Division II Adelphi was boarding to go to Barbados this morning when its training trip ended up being canceled
• 5:54 pm: An NYU swimmer has said that their training trip has been canceled
• 5:58 pm: A Division I Providence College athlete has said that their training trip has also been canceled. They arrived to the airport at 5:30 am and were supposed to fly out at 7:30 am. As they were waiting to check their bags, they were informed their flight was canceled.
• 6:13 pm: Loyola MD has confirmed that the Copa Coqui has been canceled by meet organizers due to a flu outbreak with athletes and meet staff. The meet was canceled on Friday morning, prior to the airspace disruption that occurred today. The meet is typically a collection of teams that train in Puerto Rico which in the past has included teams such as American, Cornell, Sewanee, Rhodes, Geneseo, Bridgeport, Tufts, and St Cloud State. It is unknown who was planning on swimming this year or who the team that had the flu outbreak was.
• 12:33AM Sunday: Cleveland State was cleared to travel to Puerto Rico on Monday. More information was released about the closure, namely that the plane flying Maduro made a stop in Puerto Rico, prompting the ongoing airspace closures. Airports resumed service on Monday.
• 11:16 AM Sunday: New Hampshire made it to Puerto Rico, while NYU and Holy Cross have not.
• 1:00 PM Sunday: Duke says that it will be flying out Monday

Airlines canceled hundreds of Caribbean flights after the U.S. attacks overnight. While U.S. air carriers haven’t directly flown to Venezuela for years, the Federal Aviation Administration prohibited airlines from flying in parts of the Caribbean after the strikes, including to-and-from Puerto Rico.

The Puerto Rican capital is due north of Caracas, Venezuela’s capital and largest city, by about 550 miles (875 kilometers).

357 flights to and from Luis Munoz Marin International Airport in Puerto Rico, more than 50% of the day’s schedule, were canceled on Saturday.

The airspace was canceled due to air strikes on Venezuela ordered by U.S. President Donald Trump.

After the United States captured Maduro and his wife, they were flown via helicopter to the USS Iwo Jima, then transported on several airplanes to New York City – including a landing in Puerto Rico.

The strikes come after months of buildup that include the U.S. sinking alleged drug boats coming from the country and blockading oil tankers going to and from the country.

Trump says that the U.S. will ‘run’ Venezuela and bring in billions of dollars of investment from American oil companies to help rebuild.

College teams, especially ones from colder northern latitudes, often take training trips in the break between semesters to warmer locales, including Puerto Rico. These trips are designed to give athletes the chance to focus on training and bond as a team before heading into the championship-heavy spring semester.