Following his superb second-place finish at the Waikoloa Triathlon on Sunday, Bermuda's top triathlete Tyler Butterfield will now fly to Mexico in a few weeks' time for an International Triathlon Union event and then to Texas for another race.

Butterfield finished just behind former world champion and good friend Chris McCormack on Sunday, causing the 36-year-old Australian to comment: "One day soon, I'll be talking about my old glory days and watching him (Butterfield)."

Butterfield said: "It's a dream to finish within a minute of Chris McCormack. When you grow up watching every race, it's just great."

The relationship between the two athletes goes back to the mid-1990s when McCormack – just a rookie at the time – came to Bermuda for an ITU race and stayed with the Butterfield family.

On Sunday, McCormack finished the 1.5K swim, 40K bike and 10K run course in one hour, 49 minutes and 24 seconds which sliced just about a minute off the course record, which he set last year.

The 27-year-old Butterfield was 30 seconds behind.

Butterfield added: "The race was great. I was just super happy to finish second to Chris – I was ecstatic. It was an incredible course – it was like swimming off south shore in Bermuda. It was very beautiful and the ride was on the same road that the Hawaii Ironman (World Championships) is on."

Butterfield was not originally in Hawaii for the Waikoloa Triathlon but rather travelled there from his Colorado base for a training camp to get ready for the World Championships.

"I came here for a training camp and Chris told me about the race.

"I got here on Saturday (March 20) and on the Sunday I rode the whole bike course of 112 miles (for the Worlds) and the next day I ran the marathon course but split it up by doing half in the morning and half in the afternoon.

"I wanted to know what the bike and run course was like. I didn't want to come here for the Worlds and be surprised – there is always that unknown factor – it is better to have ridden and ran it before you actually have to do it."

The Bermudian, who was the youngest ever triathlete at the Athens Olympics in 2004, said normally before a race he and McCormack would rest. But as there were only five professionals in Sunday's event, along with over 1,000 other athletes, they decided to just go out and do it.

Butterfield will stay in Hawaii until tonight when he heads back to Boulder, Colorado.

"I trained today and then I will train tomorrow before flying back. Then I will be in Mexico for an ITU event in a few weeks and after that I will compete in Texas. All the ITU races are in preparation for the 2012 Olympics," he said.

Having been training the the cold of Colorado, Butterfield said the warmth of Hawaii was very welcome.

"However, in Colorado it can be cold but very beautiful and if it is snowing I do some wind training (inside) or go on the treadmill which can go up to 14 mph. But one of the main reasons I am in Colorado is because of the altitude (training). You see all different kinds of athletes coming through here all year round for altitude training."

As for the course at this year's World Championships, Butterfield said: "It is rolling, undulating and also because it is an island people always talk about the wind but coming from Bermuda it is no big deal. Anyone who has lived on an island is used to the wind."

Butterfield qualified for the World Championships when he finished in fourth place in the Cozumel Ironman last November.

Earlier this year the Bermudian athlete also secured sponsorship through the Island's Tokio Millennium Re and one of its associated companies, Philadelphia Consolidated, that will see him through to the 2012 London Olympics.