Epiphany is celebrated worldwide but the famous celebration in Tarpon Springs turns the small town known for its quaint sponge docks into a unique festival that sees 20,000 people descend on the area.

Now in its 119^th year, crowds annually turn out at St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Cathedral and at Spring Bayou in Tarpon Springs during the first week of January for the traditional throwing of the cross during Epiphany celebrations.

After a procession from the Cathedral to the bayou, about 60 young men will take their places in the usually chilly waters of the Bayou in hopes of retrieving the cross from the water and the yearlong blessing that is said to come with it.

Here’s a list of the previous cross retrievers: 

1920 Steve John

1921 Zacharias D. Zacharias

1922 Steve John

1923 Steve John

1924 Ierotheos Athanasiou

1925 Ierotheos Athanasiou

1926 Ierotheos Athanasiou

1927 George Kakkalis

1928 Vasilios Pokratis

1929 Demosthenis Kananis

1930 Eleftherios Athanason

1931 Vasilios Pokratis

1932 John Eliou

1933 John Cardullias

1934 Mike Eliou

1935 John Athanason

1936 Athanasios T. Athanason

1937 Demetrios Psarakos

1938 Tony Houllis

1939 Stanley Polychronis

1940 Theo Lelekis

1941 Theophilos Katras

1942 John Cortessis

1943 Manuel Houllis

1944 Mike Sturgis

1945 Mike Koulias

1946 Theophilos Daras

1947 Nick Kosely

John Georgiadis

Mike Koulianos

1948 Mike Houllis

1949 Hercules Ypsilantis

1950 Nick Faklis

1951 Mike Ergas

1952  Michael Cutsuries

1953 Tokey Samarkos

1954 Deno Moutsatsos

1955 Mike Skaroulis

1956 Bill Kotis

1957 John Georgiadis

1958 Mike Stergos

1959 Sammy Mack

1960 George Georgiadis

1961 Jim Demet

1962 Manuel Kamarados

1963 Costas Pappas

1964 Jim Mouzourakis

1965 John Tsavaris

1966 Emmanuel Tsavaris

1967 Emmanuel Pondakos

1968 Jim Marcus

1969 Pete Kontodiakos

1970 Stacy Zembellas

1971 Nikitas Manias

1972 George Vouvalis

1973 Nick Kontodiakos

1974 Nikitas Lulias

Manuel Karvounis

1975 Phillip A. Stavrakis

1976 Manuel Kontodiakos

John Saclarides

1977 Alex Allisandratos

1978 Jimmie Nicholas

1979 Basil T. Assimack

1980 Steve Stavrakis Jr.

1981 Andrew Tsongranis

1982 John Korfiatis

1983 Tony Grigoris

1984 Dean Theophilopoulos

1985 Jerry Theophilopoulos

1986 Chuck Kyriakou

1987 Manuel Koutsourais

1988 Alex Ioanou

1989 Manny Cladakis

1990 Trevor Meyer

1991 Anestis Karistinos

1992 Andrew Nikiforakis

1993 Michael Saroukos

1994 John Kapaniris

1995 Thomas Dellis

1996 Christian Koulias

1997 Theo Koulianos

1998 Theofilos Mamouzelos

1999 Jason Colbe

2000 Valandis Pilatos

2001 Luke Pappas

2002 Achileas Houllis

2003 Nioti Koulianos

2004 James Hughes

2005 Andrew McAdams

2006 Zachareas Vasilios

2007 Michael Nikitas Xipolitas

2008 Chris Kavouklis

2009 Pantelis Kondoliakos

2010 Dimiti Kalogiannis

2011 Louie Nicholas Pappas

2012 Miros Petru

Louie Mialisand

Jared Allissandratos

Alexi Lake

2013 Vassilios Harding

2014 Peter Smith

2015 Kosta Pseftelis

2016 Anderson Combs

2017 Joseph Cooley

2018 Christian Chrysakis

2019 Ilias Skandaliaris

2020 Hunter Sakadales

2021  Colten Sakadales

2022 Alexander Makris

2023 George Stamas

2024 John Hittos