Irish dancer Sam Davies has travelled to the USA to step out with the best in the world.

Twenty-year-old Sam was amongst over 6,000 competitors from five continents taking part in the recent World Irish Dancing Championships in Philadelphia.

And he has proudly returned with a medal after being placed 12th out of over 40 competitors in the men's 19-21 category.

"I was very happy to have qualified for the championships, so I was thrilled to be one of only 14 dancers who gained a recall for the final dance and a place on stage for the presentation," he said this week.

Sam, of New Hedges, is a former deputy head boy of Tenby's Greenhill School and is studying for a mathematics degree at Trinity College, Dublin.

He danced for nine years with the Hynes School of Irish Dancing, Saundersfoot, bringing five All-Ireland titles back to Wales from the organisation CRN.

He made the move to An Coimisiun le Rince Gaelacha, the world's largest Irish dance organisation, in October, joining the Ui She school in Dublin, where amongst his teachers is 11-times world champion and former lead Riverdancer, Colm O'Se.

"It's always been my dream to dance at An Coimisiun's world championships, and I was delighted to qualify so quickly after joining, as I had to make considerable changes to my style of dancing," said Sam. "It was an honour to be part of such a major event."

He gained sponsorship for the competition from the Rotary Club of Saundersfoot, the Inner Wheel Club of Tenby, Soroptimist International of Tenby and District and the Inner Wheel Club of Saundersfoot, together with an arts grant from Pembrokeshire County Council.