Vendt’s agent cuts ties with company

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- One day after learning about a lawsuit filed in federal court by TYR Sport against Speedo that names Olympic swimmer Erik Vendt as a defendant, Vendt’s agent fired back, saying his management firm would no longer work with the Huntington Beach company.

Evan Morgenstein of Premier Management Group said in an e-mail Thursday night that the “unfair treatment” of Vendt prompted his decision. Existing contracts would be fulfilled, he added.

Amanda Weir, Mary DeScenza and Eric Shanteau are among the PMG clients with TYR deals.

Vendt, who learned of the lawsuit via a phone message from a reporter, acknowledged, “It’s been an emotional couple of days.”

In the lawsuit, TYR is alleging Vendt breached his contract by wearing a Speedo suit. But Morgenstein denied that.

“It is unconscionable to think that a company such as TYR has so badly misread their own contract,” he wrote.

He did not elaborate.

Reached by telephone, Morgenstein was still seething.

“This is what it’s become,” he said. “As far as signing new athletes, the group of options is one smaller. This is my response.”

The fallout from TYR’s lawsuit against Warnaco Swimwear, the parent company of Speedo, reverberated on Day 1 of the Santa Clara International Invitational, one of the final big meets before the U.S. Olympic trials in June.

In the lawsuit, TYR alleged that Speedo worked in conjunction with USA Swimming and Coach Mark Schubert to choke off competition and tried to persuade other elite athletes to leave rival manufacturers.

Despite the tumult, Vendt on Thursday turned in the fastest time in the 1,500-meter freestyle preliminaries, going 14 minutes 54.89 seconds, breaking a meet record. He was wearing Speedo’s news-making LZR Racer suit. Schubert, who coached Vendt at USC, was watching.

The two spoke about the lawsuit for the first time, though neither would go into detail about the specific allegations.

Vendt described being sued as “a little bit emotionally draining, kind of a surprise.”

“You can’t do anything,” he said. “I can’t control anything except myself and just in between my head and what’s in between the lane lines.

“Overall, I’m pretty satisfied with the swim. I don’t think it’ll be much of a distraction. . . . There’s not much I can do.”

Among those competing here are 2004 U.S. Olympians Michael Phelps, Natalie Coughlin, Aaron Peirsol, Brendan Hansen, Amanda Beard and a handful of top Australians and South Africans.

Vendt and his Club Wolverine teammates had been training at high altitude in Colorado Springs, Colo., for almost a month before arriving here Wednesday night.

“I’m pretty confident with how my training’s been going and excited with how my season’s been going,” Vendt said. “I’m not going to let this affect me in a negative way.”

Schubert, who was featured front and center in the 26-page complaint filed in federal court in Santa Ana on Monday, could not say much.

“I was made aware of the legal action and I read the brief and my attorney advised me not to comment at this time,” Schubert said.

In the lawsuit, TYR called him a “paid spokesman” for Speedo, and listed instances in which he recommended that swimmers wear the company’s LZR Racer, which has been worn by athletes setting 18 long-course world records since mid-February.

USA Swimming’s executive director, Chuck Wielgus, who was on hand here, said, “We just learned of this and we need to sort things out before we say anything.”

Warnaco, in a statement, noted that swimmers wearing the suit have set 37 world records in the last three months.

“While Warnaco generally does not comment on pending litigation, we think this lawsuit is without merit.”

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lisa.dillman@latimes.com