TARPON SPRINGS, Fla. — The 118th annual Epiphany is this Saturday.
Thousands of people are expected to be in Tarpon Springs to see the cross dive at the Spring Bayou. The diver who retrieves the cross is considered blessed for the entire year.
ABC Action News met with George Stamas, the young man who retrieved the cross in 2023, to learn his advice for all the teenagers taking part this weekend.
“This third one right here. To me, it was the best boat to go to. So, the night before, I jumped off here when it was even colder and swam there and said a little prayer. I made sure I felt that boat out,” said Stamas.
His strategy worked. Stamas retrieved the cross from the Spring Bayou in 2023.
Stamas grew up in Tarpon Springs and has watched the cross dive ever since he was little.
“Just realizing I had the cross and taking it all in up here, it was wild, and getting on one knee and kissing the Arch Bishop’s hand, it was wild,” Stamas said.
In the past year, he said he's had good fortune in school and in life in general.
“It’s not just for a year. I feel like everyone who catches it, it's for a lifetime,” said Stamas.
Being the young man who retrieves the cross runs in the family. Stamas said his cousin, Christian Chrysakis, retrieved the cross in 2018, and his great-grandfather, Anthony Houllis, did in 1938.
When asked what it’s like to carry on this tradition, Stamas said, “It’s wonderful adding one, but it is so crazy because one is just so much more than it was before.”
Stamas offered some advice for all the teens participating in the cross dive this weekend.
“Make sure before they dive to really find out the meaning of why they want and need the cross. Make sure this is their duty, and they have to do it, not that they want to do it,” said Stamas.
