By Kyle Hunter

Bermuda triathlete Tyler Butterfield is, not surprisingly, the overwhelming favourite for this weekend’s Tokio Millennium Re Sprint Triathlon at Southside.

Butterfield has enjoyed an excellent year so far, competing in the full Ironman and 70.3 triathlon distances on the international circuit.

Now he is back in Bermuda for a few weeks to compete this Sunday and also to run the May 24 Half-Marathon Derby.

And no one is happier to see him than those at Tokio Millennium who signed on to sponsor the 2004 Olympian last summer.

Peter Mills from Tokio said this week: “I don’t think there is any doubt that Tyler is the best athlete in Bermuda at the moment.”

As for Butterfield he is happy to return to Bermuda to compete in his sponsor’s event.

Butterfield flew to the Island just after putting in another stunning performance, beating some of the world’s top athletes at the 70.3 Ironman in St. Croix where he placed third as he continued his impressive build-up to the biggest Ironman event of all – the World Championships in Hawaii later this year.

“It’s just great being back in Bermuda. I have been catching up with the family and friends. I took a little time off (after St. Croix) but I started training again last Saturday. However, I did a bit in-between to keep things ticking over.

“I have also had a group team ride with the guys from Tokio Re and have been down to the BASA pool as well.”

While he has taken on the full Ironman and 70.3 (Half Ironman) distances this year against the best triathletes in the pro division, Butterfield is looking forward to competing in Sunday’s Tokio Sprint Triathlon.

“It’s good to throw one of those (Sprints) into the mix – it is short and fast. You work hard on the swim and as hard as you can on the bike and the same goes for the run.”

After competing this weekend and then on May 24, Butterfield will return to the US to take part in two top events.

The Bermudian has been excelling in the run portion of the triathlon this year. During his fifth place finish at the Memorial Hermann Ironman 70.3 on Galveston Island, Texas he was the fastest on the run, completing the 13.1 mile course in a swift one hour, seven minutes and 52 seconds – a time that will make him one of the favourites for the Marathon Derby.

“I would love to focus on my running to see if I can improve it but the main problem with my triathlon is the swim. I want to get that up to par and I have also let my bike slip a bit. But I have to work on my swim then my bike. You get so fit from training full time as a professional and training so much on the swim and the bike that you only need to do a minimal amount of work on your run.

“Eventually once my swim gets up to the level to make it to the back end of the pro athletes, then I can work on my run to really excel. But for now it is mainly getting all three to the elite standard.

“But I am definitely happy with the run – but when you work on the others it may slip back. You have to stay on your toes. You always want to improve without putting too much pressure on yourself. The main thing is patience. You will improve but it may not be as fast as you want. Everything takes time. You are not going to improve overnight in this sport.

“Sometimes it can take four or five years but you have to be willing to work hard over a long period of time. And when your body is tired you have to rest. It takes years to get up to that world class level. It is a lifetime commitment if you want to be the best in the world.”

As for having Tokio back him with sponsorship, Butterfield said: “They are a good company and really promote sport in some type of way.”

And he noted that many of the employees do some sort of sport. “They may not all be triathletes but many do the cycle and others do the run. They sponsor things to do with youth development and sports in general. Basically they promote a healthy lifestyle.”

Tokio’s Mills said of Butterfield’s performances this year: “He is doing fantastic. I think he has the skill-set to be very successful at this sport. He is training in the right place (Colorado), training with the right people and he has incredible DNA in his body from his family.”

Butterfield is the son of Debbie and Jim Butterfield. His father Jim flew the flag for Bermuda in the 1972 Munich Olympics in rowing, and also competed in the 1981 Hawaii Ironman Triathlon finishing seventh and his mother Debbie is a former top distance runner in Bermuda, winning the May 24 Derby seven times – a record that still stands.

Mills added: “Triathlon is a sport that takes a lot of heart and he has that. You may not be the greatest swimmer, the greatest cyclist or the greatest runner but when you put all three together I think Tyler is up there with the best. I think he is quite capable of winning major races. I think he is certainly one of the best distance (Ironman) triathlon runners in the world right now.

“He has all the potential and God willing he will stay injury free.”

This is Tokio’s first season involved with Butterfield.

Mills said: “He was leaving professional cycling and going (back) to the triathlon. We gave him a corporate boost when there was very little corporate money around. He is a great guy and he has a very good work ethic and that is the type of people Tokio looks to sponsor and get behind.”

Mills is himself an Ironman and prefers the longer distances.

But that will not be the case on Sunday for the Sprint Triathlon.

“Sunday will be a 750 metre swim, 20K bike and 5K run at Clearwater,” he said, adding, “I think we will have the largest turnout of any triathlon in Bermuda. We have at least 25 people from off Island participating in a competition called the Insurance Cup which is for the winning insurance team. Tokio have been the defending champions over the first couple of years but one of our sister companies – Philadelphia Consolidated – is coming in with two very fast teams. It is going to be tough going against them and there will also be some very good competition from on Island as well.”

The day start with the pee wees at 8.30 and then the adults at 10.15 a.m.

“We have two charities – Team Hope and Sunshine League,” he said.

Meanwhile, Butterfield was happy to see how well former Olympic triathlete Flora Duffy has been doing in cycling with her University of Colorado team in Boulder.

After the Beijing Olympics Duffy fell out of love with the sport but now she feels rejuvenated.

Being that both Butterfield and Duffy are based in Boulder, Butterfield said he does see her.

“I see her in Boulder a fair bit but I am not very familiar with the college (cycle) racing. I also know she is going to be doing a few triathlons again soon and it is good to see. She is a very talented athlete.

“Sometimes after you take a step back from it you realise how much fun it is. You may not win every race but you realise how privileged it is just to be there. And Flora is only 20 which is still young in this sport. It is really great to see her doing well.

“Sometimes you can have down period – especially with the Olympics which many see as the be all and end all. The Olympics have ended a lot of careers. Sometimes it is older athletes who perhaps should have retired earlier. Others put so much into it and don’t get the return they were hoping for. On the other hand you may have someone who gets a bronze medal when they never expected it, so it works both ways.

“You have to learn to handle having bad races and bad months in this sport.”