Marion resident named first woman president of Boston scuba diving organization

MARION — Kim Malkoski has been going to the Boston Sea Rovers show — a symposium dedicated to scuba diving — since she was little. And like her parents, Malkoski now works in the scuba diving industry.

“I've always been around the water and sailing, and so [the] ocean has kind of always been a part of our life,” she said.

In March, Malkoski, who grew up and still lives in Marion, was named president of the Boston Sea Rovers, making her the first woman to hold the position in the dive club’s 70-year history — something Malkoski said was “beyond all expectations.”

The Boston Sea Rovers is a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating the public on the underwater world. The group organizes an annual conference in Danvers and is made up entirely of volunteers.

“It's a huge honor because these are people that I consider friends, mentors, so having put in a lot of work myself, it's nice to get recognized for that,” Malkoski said.

As president of the Boston Sea Rovers, Malkoski will oversee the organization as it puts together its yearly show. Malkoski served as the group’s vice president since 2017 and had also previously been an intern.

After the Boston Sea Rovers conference this March, Malkoski traveled to Raja Ampat, Indonesia and dived among healthy reefs in the South Pacific Ocean. Malkoski likened the experience to swimming in a fishbowl.

“Just the vibrancy, the color,” she said. “You would see yellows and pinks and purples — color you don't normally see underwater are all there. And then just the fish life. There's just so many fish.”

Malkoski also works as a diving safety officer for the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, teaching scientists how to dive so as to conduct their research.

She said diving is different and unique for everyone. For her, it’s calming, freeing. The underwater ocean makes a lot of noise, Malkoski said. It’s quiet, yet it’s loud, and there’s a sense of weightlessness with no center of gravity below the surface.

“They usually say nature kind of centers people, and I find that underwater, that's definitely what it does for me,” Malkoski said.

It’s the “unknowing and exploration” that drives scuba divers, according to Malkoski, who among other experiences has dived with several species of shark. Every dive is different, she said.

“You're going to always experience something new, and you're always going to see something new with it,” Malkoski said. “Especially in places where there are a lot of animals, you just don't know what nature is going to present you that day.”