Teens share in Tarpon Springs 2012 Epiphany Day blessings

On a historic day in Tarpon Springs, the 2012 Epiphany day celebration will go down as one of the most unique in the 106 years that the city has hosted the cross dive in Spring Bayou.

At the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Cathedral, the day began with spiritual calm and reflection for the sixty divers that would be seeking the wooden cross to be thrown into the bayou.

But from there,  Tarpon's 106th Epiphany celebration would take a rather odd turn.

When Archbishop Demetrios tossed the cross into the water, most people thought a retriever would surface in a few moments.  But after several minutes passed, no one had come up with the cross.

Then, a second cross was thrown into the water.  In one hundred and six years, it's never happened.

"Except in 1976. was the only time I can remember  a back up cross being thrown," explained Michael Kouskoutis, Co-Chairman for the divers.

As the young men struggled to cope with the frigid waters, 17-year-old Louis Mailisand eventually hoisted the cross into the air.  The Tarpon Springs High School senior was on his first-ever dive for the cross.

"Just the fact that I had it.  Just knowing,  it's probably the best feeling that I'm going to have in a long time," said Mailisand.

As Louis was being carried to the church by some of his fellow divers, his cousin Miros Petrou was emerging from the water with the original cross that had been thrown into the bayou.  So he too was carried like a hero into St. Nicholas Cathedral.

"I dove down a few times, I was feeling around, I couldn't find it.  And then they threw in the second one,  I swam towards it.  And all of the sudden I saw my cousin come up with it and I was happy.  I went with him (Louis), I looked over the ladder and saw that they were still diving for it and I jumped in.  And, like on the fourth time down, I went down and I felt the slickness of the paint and just grabbed it," said Petrou as he kissed the 2012 cross.

Mailisand's mom Linda said her son had a feeling the day was going to unfold like it did.

"He goes Mom, you know I'm going to get the cross.  I said, you know Louis, you and the sixty other boys are going to get that cross," laughed Linda Mailisand.

Late in the afternoon, the Greek Orthodox clergy determined that 16-year-old Jared Alissandratos had actually retrieved the second cross thrown, along with Mailisand.

Somehow in the murky water, the two pulled at the cross at the same time.  Despite Mailisand coming out of the water with the cross, all three young men will go down in history as being 2012 Epiphany day cross dive retrievers.