Now in his 19th season as the Cerritos College men’s swimming coach, Joe Abing has led his teams to three South Coast Conference championships and three second place finishes, the most recent being the 2015 season. They had a 4-2 conference dual meet record in 2022 and placed fourth at the South Coast Conference Championships. Freshman swimmer Kobe Hurtado was the team’s lone CCCAA State Championship qualifier and turned in a pair of 13th place finishes in his two events.

During his tenure with the Cerritos College men’s swimming program, Abing’s team have broken 17 of the 23 school records, and they have posted winning records in each if his seasons, while Abing has a 68-33 career conference record.

During the three years the team won the conference title (2005, 2007 and 2010), 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 his 18 seasons, 11 individual state titles have been won. Robbie Garcia won two state titles for Cerritos - one in the 200-yard freestyle (2004) and in the 500-yard freestyle (2005), while Nikos Kostianis won the state championship in the 200-yard butterfly in 2007 and came back the next year to win three titles (100-yard butterfly, 100-yard backstroke and the 200-yard butterfly). PJ Gabayeron, who won the 100-yard breaststroke, 200-yard breaststroke and 100-yard IM state titles in 2011, responded by defending his titles in both the 100-yard breaststroke and 200-yard breaststroke in 2012. Additionally, 20 swimmers and one diver have earned All-American status.
 
In addition to coaching swimming, Abing is the Falcon’s water polo head coach, which competes in the fall. The water polo team has become a regular contender for the conference championship and playoff qualifier since 2003. They concluded the 2022 season with a second place finish in conference play and concluded the season with a  22-14 record. 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, while coaching seven All-Americans.

As the Falcon water polo coach, Abing has turned the Cerritos College men’s water polo program into a state contender. In his 20 seasons, Abing has posted a 368-200 record, which includes advancing to the Southern California Regional Playoffs in the 18 of his 19 seasons, while they have also advanced to the state championships three times. 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 water polo 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.

Coach Abing lives in Seal Beach with his wife Rachelle and three sons.