Feuding sides float verbal jabs at swim trials

OMAHA -- Both sides were proclaiming, if not victory, a strong measure of satisfaction and engaged in verbal shots at the U.S. Olympic swim trials.

Never mind that the meet doesn’t actually start until this morning at the Qwest Center.

USA Swimming’s head coach, Mark Schubert, took jabs at TYR Sport, which is suing him, USA Swimming, Warnaco Swimwear Inc. -- the parent company of Speedo -- and swimmer Erik Vendt in connection with the LZR Racer swimsuit. The antitrust lawsuit alleges that there was a conspiracy to steer swimmers to Speedo.

Schubert, who has steadfastly refused to comment on the lawsuit, Saturday took pains to compliment Nike, which has been allowing its sponsored athletes to experiment with high-tech suits from other manufacturers. He said Nike shows it wants its athletes to succeed.

“The good of their athlete is the most important thing rather than suing the athlete for not wearing their suit,” Schubert said. “That shows a lot of class. It could have been a huge problem if athletes were trying to decide which suit to wear.

” . . . That’s an American attitude. Any other attitude is a selfish attitude.”

There was no doubt Schubert was referring to TYR and its treatment of its former pitchman, Vendt.

Vendt, who will swim today in the 400-meter freestyle preliminaries, is being sued for breach of contract, though TYR lawyer Larry Hilton said Saturday it had earlier consented to put off the litigation involving Vendt until after the Olympics.

Said Hilton, in a telephone interview: “That’s not really Mark Schubert speaking. That’s Speedo. He’s acting as a conduit for Speedo. Metaphorically, he was wearing his Speedo hat when he made that comment.”

An order to extend the deadline until Sept. 15 for Warnaco and the other parties to respond to TYR’s complaint was granted last week in federal court. But an earlier filing, a declaration attached from Stu Isaac, a Speedo senior vice president, stated that Schubert is a paid spokesman for the company, which backs up TYR’s assertion.

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lisa.dillman@latimes.com