Now in his third season, Joe Abing will be in charge of the men’s swimming squad at Cerritos College. After directing the team last season to a 7-0 record and a South Coast Conference championship, Abing hopes to continue the success from last year.

In two years under Abing, the men’s swimming team has compiled a 13-1 conference record, and came in second place in his inaugural season. In addition to winning the conference championship last season, four individuals competed at the State Championships. Robbie Garcia won his second state title, as he captured the 500-yard freestyle event. In just two seasons, five school records have been broken, while eight swimmers and one diver have earned All-American status. Prior to coming to Cerritos College, Abing spent the previous eight years coaching swimming at Ventura High School, and led them to their first league championship in 1997 and 1998, and coached seven All-Americans.

Abing played water polo and competed in swimming at South Pasadena High, where he started on the 1989 CIF Championship water polo team. In his senior year, the swim team was the runner-up in the CIF championships. While in high school, Abing earned All-League, All-CIF and was named to the San Gabriel Valley All-Star Team. He moved on to Cuesta College, where he played water polo and swam for Terry Bowen, who is an alumnus of Cerritos College. Abing would eventually graduate from UCLA, where he earned a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology in 1995. In 2002, he graduated from Azusa Pacific University with a Master’s in Physical Education. In addition to his duties with the men’s aquatics program, Abing also teaches a full load of physical education classes.