Top Bermudian triathlete Tyler Butterfield will compete in an international triathlon points race in Puerto Rico on June 9 as he continues preparation for the Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England.

Though competitors can enhance their world rankings with points in this event, Butterfield's main interest is the actual competition he will get in this Olympic-distance race (1,500 metre swim, 40K bike and 10K run).

"I'm not in the shape I would like, so it's just a race to get more experience under my belt.

"It's part of my build-up and to help me get back on track after my break," said the Australia-based sportsman who competed in both the May 24 cycle race and Marathon Derby last Friday.

There's also a possibility the 19-year-old will take part in the Edmonton World Cup in Canada on July 14, one of the elite events on the annual triathlon calendar.

"This has even more points than the ordinary points race. There are about 20 points races a year but there are only 12 World Cup races and they are more prestigious - more points, more prize money, more sponsorship for the race. It would be good to get into that," he said.

Butterfield is also keeping his fingers crossed that he will be able to step up his Commonwealth Games training with a final stint in San Diego, California, alongside former world champion (1997) Chris McCormack of Australia.

If that plan fails to materialise, Butterfield will remain here until Bermuda's contingent leave for Manchester in late July.

"We discussed it (the San Diego trip) while I was in Australia but I will know for sure in the next few days. If that doesn't work out I'll stay here because I don't like to travel too much while I am doing hard training. That takes away time that you could be training because you have to find new places to cycle and swim - you have to know the pool times - every time you change locations and it takes about a week to get organised and that's a week you could be training," he explained.

Regarding his training here, Butterfield said things were going "pretty good" and he is just praying that he remains injury-free.

"Things are looking good once I can get a lot of time in the pool and on the bike out in the hills. I just have to get back to doing some really hard work now."