In Tarpon Springs, teen who found Epiphany cross feels ‘amazing’

Standing in the rain outside of St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Cathedral on Saturday, Nik Gombos made a promise.

“You watch,” he said. “It will rain on and off all morning, but when it’s time for the boys to dive, there will be blue skies and sunshine.”

Rain may have dampened the start of Tarpon Springs’ 118th Epiphany celebration, the largest commemoration in the Western Hemisphere of Jesus Christ’s baptism in the Jordan River.

But by afternoon, when 65 boys aged 16 to 18 plunged into the Spring Bayou to retrieve a white cross tossed by the archbishop, the sky was blue and the sun was shining.

“I’ve seen it so many times,” said Gombos, 62, who attended his first Epiphany in 1967 at age 6. “That’s the Holy Spirit. That’s just how it works.”

John Hittos, 16, of Clearwater, emerged from the water clutching the cross, receiving, as tradition goes, a year of blessings.

But Hittos, a junior at Calvary Christian High School, said he wants the good fortune represented by Epiphany to be shared with the community.

“It’s truly a wonderful and beautiful experience,” Hittos said. “We bless the world by blessing the water.”

The event drew about 15,000 to downtown, according to spokesperson Johanna Gatzoulis, continuing the tradition with a slightly smaller crowd than last year.

It was a homecoming for His Eminence Archbishop Nikitas of Thyateira and Great Britain, who was born in Tampa and attended Tarpon Springs’ Epiphany as a child. In 1974, he dove and found the cross, making this year’s celebration the 50th anniversary of his retrieval.

While clergy and parishioners observed the morning’s Divine Liturgy service in the cathedral, spectators began setting up their places around Spring Bayou to wait for the cross dive.

In pouring rain at 7 a.m., Cathy and Robert Lettre set their chairs down by the water to make sure they had a front row seat that afternoon.

Sisters Peggie Martin and Alexandra Harris drove from Alabama at 5 a.m. to arrive in Tarpon for a clear view of the boats the boys would be jumping from.

“It just seemed like something you have to see,” Martin said.

Others flew in from Canada and Greece.

But there were first-time celebrators from nearby, too.

“It’s a bucket list item,” said Nikki Bailey, who came with her sister, Roni, from Clearwater.

The Baileys scoped out the area Friday night and returned Saturday morning.

“We looked up the meaning of the dive and its history. We’ve gotten really into it,” Roni Bailey said. “The divers are excited to be here so we are, too.”

Epiphany is a deep tradition for generations of families in Tarpon Springs, which has the highest number of Greeks per capita in the U.S.

Margarita Karvounis, 29, grew up attending Epiphany and participating in the Hellenic Greek dancing as a child. On Saturday, her 8-year-old son David Cutler wore the traditional dance garb, and the generational bond hit her.

“It’s a lot of pride,” she said. “Getting him dressed this morning was special.”

And although the cross dive is the main event for many spectators, Anastasios Damianakis, 18, said it is more of a religious experience.

“What people don’t realize is we’re in church still technically,” he said before the dive. “It looks like an event. But it’s part of the service.”

It was just before 1 p.m. when the procession of clergy, divers, parishioners in traditional garb and onlookers arrived at the bayou. The archbishop blessed Tarpon Springs. Chloe Kotis, 17, who was selected from the choir as this year’s dove bearer, released the white bird over the water, symbolizing the Holy Spirit.

The boys plunged into the water, generating a roar of applause, and Hittos emerged from Spring Bayou with the cross.

After being carried back to the cathedral on the shoulders of his fellow divers, Hittos was met by a crowded reception at St. Nicholas.

He said his brother had a dream two nights ago that he’d be the retriever. On Saturday, he didn’t see the cross when he dove, he said, but he had a feeling — something divine. Then it was in his hand.

“It feels amazing,” Hittos said. “I really hope for nothing but health for my family, my friends, those I hold dear, those I love.”