DESPITE training only a few times a week, three Swindon youngsters tap-danced their way to the top at the World Tap Championships.

Adina Nyahwa, 18, Matt Pidgeon, 15, and Kai Scanlan, 11, took part in the 2013 Interna-tional Dance Organisation World Tap Championships held in Riesa, Germany earlier this month.

They came away with six gold medals between them, helping to make it England’s best performance at the tap championships to date.

England head coach and world record breaking tap dancer Jo Scanlan said: “Adina, Matt and Kai have worked extremely hard to firstly be selected for this year’s England Team, and then showed great determination and sacrifice to be crowned world champions.

“There are around 2,000 tap dancers from nearly 20 countries and they should be very proud of their achievements.”

James Scanlan, managing director at Tap Attack, the dance school based in Nine Elms which helped to train the youngsters for the championships, was also delighted with the students’ achievements.

He said: “It was outstanding.

“We’re different to other teams and we only rehearse for a few hours a week compared to how others can rehearse every day, so to come away with six medals at the world championships is wonderful.

“We were also a self-funded team so when they were not training they were out fundraising, bag-packing and washing cars to raise money to fund the trip.”

Adina and Matt both came away with the title of World Champion in the adult formation category, alongside 20 other dancers from the team.

Adina, a full-time performing arts student at The Wilkes Academy, has been a dancer with Tap Attack since 2008 and this was the sixth time she has competed at the World Champion-ships.

She said: “To be part of England’s most successful year is like a dream.

“We have worked so hard this year and for us to be crowned World Champions has made all of the hard work worth it”.

Matt, from Chiseldon, who taught himself to dance less than two years ago, was also crowned Junior World Champion in the solo category, the junior duo category and junior small group category.

The Ridgeway School student auditioned to be part of Tap Attack only in April this year, and since then has trained in Swindon and Reading every weekend and during the holidays to prepare for the competition.

Kai Scanlan, one of the youngest members of the England team, won the accolade World Champion in the Child-ren’s Male Solo section.