Bermuda Olympic triathlete Tyler Butterfield roared to fourth place yesterday in the Cozumel Ironman and now looks to have qualified for the World Championships in Hawaii next year.

Although only the top three professionals in yesterday's Ironman in Mexico were guaranteed a place in Hawaii, Butterfield said the athlete who finished in second place told him he will not be accepting his spot from yesterday's gruelling race.

Butterfield covered the 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike and full marathon in a time of 8:39:56 which his friend and former coach Greg Hopkins called: "The best any Bermudian has ever done in a full Ironman."

Shortly after finishing Butterfield said: "I am very happy with the race. I was chasing third place pretty hard during the last lap because third was guaranteed a spot at the World Championships in Hawaii.

"But after I finished I asked the guy who came second (Viktor Zyemtsev) if he was going to take his spot in Hawaii and he said he wasn't. He had won a race a couple of weeks ago so it looks as if I will get that World Championship spot. Obviously people change their minds but I will definitely know tomorrow afternoon which is when they have a thing called the Roll Down which is the slot allocation for Hawaii. And if he doesn't change his mind then I am in there which will be really great."

Yesterday's Ironman was won by Rutger Beke from Belgium in a time of 8:18:40. Second-place Zyemtsev from the Ukraine finished in 8:29:10 and third place went to Sebastian Pedraza from Italy in a time of 8:33:28.

Butterfield said: "I did my own race. I started the swim alone and I stayed close to shore ¿ about 40 metres from the bunch. I figured the current would be less close to shore. I swam alone the whole way and then when I got on the bike a few people passed me including the guy who won – he is very strong and was a little too fast for me so I let him go. A few others passed me but I said to myself 'I will see them later' and I caught a few at the end of the bike."

After the bike Butterfield was in eighth position and his strong run moved him up to fourth by the time he crossed the finish line.

"I learned a lot from my last full Ironman in New Zealand back in March. I definitely did a lot better this time for the full distance. Back then I went out hard on the bike and by the second lap it was pretty much over.

"Today I was a lot more patient and steady on the bike but I ran a lot faster."

Butterfield took 46:11 to cover the swim yesterday and did the bike race in 4:56:12. Although there was no official time for the run, the Bermudian said: "On my watch it was about 2:53 which I was very pleased with. I have been running very well in training. In New Zealand I was disappointed because I had to walk (some of the way). I wanted to finish strong today and not have to walk at all. Today (on the run) I went through the first 10K in 38 minutes and I thought I am going pretty quick. I did the half marathon in 1:20 and I still felt pretty comfortable although I did slow down a bit at the end. I knew I was going quick and I was trying to hang on and praying nothing would happen – nothing would go wrong. The worst thing that can happen to you is you get three miles from home and you cramp. When that happens there is not much you can do – you can only walk it off and it is frustrating because you can be so close to the finish line.

"Today I did start to cramp a bit with about one K remaining but that was because I was running so hard as I was trying to catch third place."

Butterfield, at 26-years-old, was the youngest pro in yesterday's Ironman. Most of the runners were in their 30s and Butterfield said: "I am still quite young – this is an older man's sport because you need so much strength. I am not strong enough on the bike to go with some of those guys."

While the top 10 pros receive prize money, Butterfield said: "I don't know what I will be getting but you do not go into this sport to make money. I have to give a lot of thanks to my sponsors –Peter Mills and Tokio Millennium Re.

"They have been great to me and also my dad (former Ironman Jim Butterfield). Without them I couldn't do what I am doing. They have all been so supportive."