FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM While some paddlers are staying out of the Ala Wai Canal because of last year's sewage spill, some have returned. Waikiki Surf Club members Kawailele Miller, left, Nohealani Miller, Samantha Leong and Chelsea Agas practiced yesterday. CLICK FOR LARGE

Ala Wai sewage fears keep some paddlers out

Young paddlers are slow to return to the Ala Wai Canal

More than a year after a record 48-million-gallon sewage spill in the Ala Wai Canal, most adult paddlers whose clubs practice there have returned.

But several clubs say they've lost youth paddlers because either the young people or their parents still have concerns about the canal's water quality.

Waikiki Surf Club had 10 six-man canoes of youth paddlers competing last year, coach Luana Froiseth said. This year, so far, it's down to just two boats.

"It's a shame that our kids programs won't thrive in the Ala Wai -- it's a fantastic place for kids to be training," Froiseth said. "Who knows when we'll get them back?"

Some of the Waikiki Surf Club's former youth members aren't paddling Hawaiian outrigger canoes this year.

Others have switched to clubs that practice at Keehi Lagoon.

Either the kids or their parents can't get over concerns about Ala Wai Canal water quality -- though it's been more than a year since 48 million gallons of raw sewage spilled into the canal because of a sewer-line break.

"Keehi is just as dirty as the Ala Wai, if not dirtier," said Richline Fong, Waikiki Surf Club's youth coach.

But the perception of the Waikiki waterway as being a higher risk lingers on, Fong said yesterday afternoon as a six-man canoe of 16- to 18-year-old girls prepared for practice in the Ala Wai.

"At first my dad didn't want me to paddle here, but it blew over," said Samantha Leong, 16, who has been paddling three years.

Leong is optimistic that by showering with soap after paddling in the Ala Wai, as recommended by health officials, she and her fellow paddlers won't face any more risk of a bacterial infection than anyone else.

State health officials have emphasized that bacterial infections are more likely to be passed from person to person than contracted from water or soil. Officials recommend paddlers practice personal hygiene like not sharing towels and not paddling with an open wound.

The Ala Wai Canal didn't meet recreational water standards before the sewage spill and likely never will. It is a drainage canal that receives runoff pollution from the urban Manoa and Palolo valleys, Watson Okubo, Health Department water quality testing chief, has explained.

But the haunting image of one man who died of an aggressive bacterial infection within days of falling in Ala Wai Harbor after the 2006 spill lingers in some people's memories.

That man had pre-existing medical conditions that made him especially vulnerable to infection. In addition, he initially refused medical treatment.

In February, a 15-year-old Punahou School student who had recently paddled in the Ala Wai Canal was hospitalized with streptococcal toxic shock syndrome, which is potentially life-threatening.

The boy, whose name has not been released, plans to paddle again next year, said Tom Holden, Punahou athletic director.

Though details about the youth's case were never revealed, the fact he was hospitalized reignited some fears of bacterial infection from the Ala Wai.

Rachel Orange, a paddler for the Waikiki Beach Boys club, said she doesn't believe there's a risk of getting an infection "any more in Ala Wai than anyplace else."

"It's spread by people, when you look at it scientifically," Orange said.

"I've been in paddling myself almost 35 years and staph (staphylococcus bacteria infections) has been with canoe paddling for as long as I remember," said Waikiki Surf Club coach Luana Froiseth.

With precautions, hopefully things will get back to normal, said Hannie Anderson, president of the Oahu Hawaiian Canoe Racing Association, which represents 18 clubs.

"All the Hui Waa clubs are back on the Ala Wai and have been practicing for some months," with no reports of bacterial infections, said Tambry Young, president of Na Ohana O Na Hui Waa, an association of 17 clubs on Oahu.

The city has made sure two Ala Wai-based clubs near the Waikiki Public Library that didn't have regular water service have temporary showers this year, said Parks Director Lester Chang. And the city is working to install a permanent shower fixture, he said.