Butterfield Prepares For Weekend Events
Tyler Butterfield raced to a solid second place in Sunday’s [Sept 23] 5150 Galveston triathlon. The event marked his return to the non-drafting race format, following a year spent solely focused on ITU draft‐legal racing and highlighted by his second Olympic Games.
Butterfield lead the second pack out of the swim, exiting the water with eventual winner Chris Foster, just a minute behind swim leader Matt Reed.
After a momentary mishap securing his feet into his cycling shoes, he managed to keep Foster within sight for the remainder of the race. Butterfield ultimately finished a mere 27 seconds behind the non‐drafting specialist.
“I’m really happy with my day,” he said, following the race. “I wasn’t sure how much fitness I would have after my post‐London break, but since I went into the Games extremely fit, I hoped some of that would still be there.
“I’m really excited to be racing in the non‐drafting format again. It suits my strengths much better, with the swim being relatively slower compared to ITU racing and the bike holding more importance.”
Butterfield will race again next weekend in Southern California in a ‘super‐sprint’ style event, the F1 Triathlon, consisting of a swim/bike/run/swim/bike/run.
He’ll back up Saturday’s fast and furious effort with the Superfrog Triathlon on Sunday, a half‐iron distance long course race at which cycling legend Lance Armstrong is also slated to compete.
