Abi began swimming when she was 8 years old in a small town in southern China. Her first coach instilled in her the importance of technique, and because of the benefits she received from this, technique has become the central focus of her coaching philosophy.

After winning the Junior National Championships at 13 years old, Abi was recruited to the Chinese National Team and was the youngest swimmer on the team at the time. Her 7 years of hard work in Beijing paid off, as she became one of the top swimmers in China. She was a national record holder in the 200 meter backstroke, won the National Championships twice, the 1993 FINA World Cup, and was a silver medalist at the 1994 Asia Games.

As a coach, Abi believes in developing creative training methods that complement each individual swimmer and encourages her swimmers to pursue their personal goals. As a result, her swimmers have been recognized as USA Swimming and Pacific Swimming Age Group Record Holders and Top 10s, Olympic Trial and National qualifiers, Junior National and Sectional finalists and Far Western and Junior Olympics champions. She assisted the 2008 USA Olympic Team with swimmer statistics and has coached the USA Swimming Diversity Camp at the Olympic Training Center and the North American Challenge Cup, Western Zone and Pacific Coast All-Star teams.

Abi holds a BS in kinesiology and is interested in exercise physiology and the science of body movements. She was the recipient of the 2009 Pacific Swimming Age Group Coach of the Year award, and is recognized as an American Swimming Coaches Association Level 5 coach.