It was just a quick dive for 17 year old Anderson Combs.
Combs emerged from the chilly waters of Spring Bayou moments with the cross in hand and nearly 50 other young men from the Greek Orthodox church came up empty-handed in the 110th Epiphany.
The annual Tarpon Springs cross dive is attended by thousands and is the biggest celebration of the baptism of Jesus Christ in the Western Hemisphere.
Tradition says that whoever gets to the cross first, which is blessed by a church official and then thrown into the water, will have a year’s worth of blessings.
