Boris Porotov was a self-taught scuba diver in Russia in 1960, at a time when no manufactured equipment or instruction material of any kind was available. He learned by trial and error and was able, with extremely limited resources, to instruct others to scuba dive. In 1963, he led a group of divers to the Sea of Japan, returning two years later to make a scuba diving film which was aired on Soviet TV. In 1965, his dedication to the sport lead Porotov to establish the scuba diving club DIVE, which was one of the first handful of clubs to be started in Russia. As founding Chairman, he still operates the club today. In 1998, the club adopted the CMAS training program and in 1969, he developed and created the Monofin.
His skills as an instructor in competitive scuba diving contests gained his students numerous world records and he was eventually assigned to train the Soviet Navy’s Special Underwater Forces. He has received numerous Soviet awards for his instructional work and in 1991, he and his wife became Handicapped Scuba Association (HAS) instructors and opened their own school in the Black Sea port of Sebastopol. Porotov still operates the school today teaching primarily handicapped children to scuba dive.