Now in his sixth season, Joe Abing led his teams to two South Coast Conference championships, and two second place finishes in the last four seasons. Last year, the came in second place in the conference championships and placed 16^th at the state championships. Individually, the team saw sophomore Nikos Kostianis conclude his Falcon career with three more state titles, while two others qualified for the state tournament. Abing has now led the team to five consecutive winning seasons, which included a 6-1 conference record in 2008. In five years under Abing, the men’s swimming team has compiled a 29-6 conference record, with two championships and two second place finishes.

            During the two years the team won the conference title (2005 and 2007), Abing was voted the South Coast Conference Coach of the Year. In addition to winning the conference championships, the team has had numerous qualifiers for the state championships each year. In addition to the three titles won by Kostianis last year and one the year before, Robbie Garcia won two state titles for Cerritos, one in the 200-yard freestyle and in the 500-yard freestyle. In just five seasons, 14 school records have been broken, while 12 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.

            As the Falcon water polo coach, Abing has turned the Cerritos College men’s water polo program into a state contender. This past season, he guided the team to the Southern California Regional Playoffs, which he has done every season. The team finished in second place during the regular season and placed third in the South Coast Conference Tournament. They were defeated in their opening game and concluded the season with a 23-8 record. In his six seasons, Abing has posted a 127-66 record, which includes advancing to the Southern California Regional Playoffs each season and also advanced to the state championships twice. Back in 2004, Abing led the team to the South Coast Conference Championship, as well as the state championship and was voted the Southern California and SCC Coach of the Year.

            Abing came to Cerritos College after spending two seasons as the head coach at Ventura College. He did a solid job with the Pirates, leading them to a 21-11 record in 2002 and helped them advance to the second round of the Southern California Regional Playoffs both seasons. In addition to his duties at Ventura College, he was the swimming coach at Ventura High School since 1995. He also handled the water polo duties at Ventura High until 2000, before taking the job at Ventura College. 

            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, Abing helped the swim team place second 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.