2025 U.S. OPEN
- December 3-6, 2025
- Austin, Texas
- Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center
- Prelims: 10 a.m. EST
- Finals: 7 p.m EST (Day 1: 5 p.m. EST)
- LCM (50 meters)
- Meet Central
- Psych Sheets
- Live Results
- Live Recaps
- Finals: Day 1
South African Pieter Coetze has been forced to withdraw from the 2025 U.S. Open, which begins its first full day of competition this morning.
Coetze, 21, announced on social media that he has fallen ill and won’t be racing this weekend.
He wrote on Instagram:
Unfortunately I’ve had to withdraw from the U.S. Open here in Austin after getting sick. Wish I could race, but it’s all a part of the game. Good luck to everyone competing!
Coetze was scheduled to swim five events at the meet, coming in as the top seed in the 50 back (24.17), 100 back (51.85), second seed in the 200 back (1:53.36), sixth seed in the 100 free (47.88) and 11th in the 50 free (22.05).
The men’s backstroke races were some fans’ most anticipated races for the meet, as Coetze was slated to go head-to-head with Hungarian Hubert Kos. The two have emerged as the most well-rounded male backstrokers in the world, with Coetze holding the edge in the 50 and 100, while Kos is just over a tenth faster in the 200.
Coetze is coming off a breakout summer that saw him win three medals at the World Championships. He kicked off the meet with a gold in the 100 back, touching 0.05 seconds ahead of World Record holder Thomas Ceccon and 0.07 seconds ahead of Yohann Ndoye-Brouard as the entire podium broke 52 seconds. His win made him the first male swimmer since 2019 to win a World Championships gold medal for South Africa.
In the 200 back, Coetze narrowly took silver in an enthralling race with Kos, clocking 1:53.36 to break the South African National Record. Kos won in 1:53.19, a new European Record and the fastest time recorded since 2011.
He ended the meet with a silver in the 50 back (24.17), obliterating his former best time and the South African National Record in the process.
Prior to 2025, his only World Championship medal had been a bronze in the 200 back at the lightly-attended 2024 Worlds.
Coetze first burst onto the international scene at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, medaling in all three backstroke events with gold in the 100, silver in the 50, and bronze in the 200.
He’s quite ripped
Man traveled from South Africa to the U.S. and got sick after, big rip
Bummer. I was really looking forward to watching him race! It sounds like he was in Austin when he got sick which would suck….travel from SA to Austin is no fun.
what’s the last time this meet was actually memorable?
summer broke 4:30 at the 2022 and 2023 editions
What does that mean, even?
(PS: It’s nice when scratches are explained. Ahmed?)
I mean, who really wants to swim the mile?
Aw, man. Coetze vs Kos was gonna be epic
next up: Marchand and McIntosh pull out 200 fly, Regan Smith out of a random backstroke