Epiphany celebrations in Tarpon Springs and the Cross Dive at the Spring Bayou took place on Monday. The dove bearer plays a vital role in the annual Epiphany celebration. A member of the community, typically a young woman,

Every Jan. 6 the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Cathedral celebrates the baptism of Jesus Christ. Here’s what to know.

The Orthodox Christian Church celebrates Epiphany on Jan. 6 of each year, in remembrance of the baptism of Jesus Christ in the water of the Jordan River 2000 ago. The observance spread to the new world and eventually to Tarpon Springs, which boasts the largest percentage of Greek Americans of any city in the U.S.

Bayou as more than 65 young men dove into the water hoping to emerge with the wooden cross tossed by the Archbishop from the dock. The lucky one to retrieve the cross during this year’s dive was 17-year old Lucas Boillot from Plantation.

This was Boillot's second year of diving. While he says he was nowhere close to the cross at that time, things turned out differently this time.