First of all, two things about her surname:

1. "Agüero" means "omen" in Spanish; and

2. yes, there is an umlaut over the "u" (Spanish also uses it in its writing) which makes the "u" pronouncable, else it would sound "Agero".

For Cuban volleyball Taymaris has been nothing but a good omen for her team. She has become one—if not the—most complete Cuban player to emerge from the Caribbean school. It is amazing to see how this player, who isn't one of the tallest on the team, can do so much by herself. Beginning with her strong jump serve, she can rack up the aces and easily mess up her opponents' serve reception. As a setter she has a smart sense to her game that benefits her already awesome hitters—a wild bunch of attackers that can go over any block in the planet—yet Taymaris's creative setting helps them find valuable breaches in the blocks. Though she's not a setter at the caliber of, say, He Qi, Maurizia Cacciatori, or Fofão, she doesn't need to be that elaborate because her hitters take care of the rest of the show, and also because she complements her setting with her hitting and blocking, both of which she does very well.

It is rare to see a Cuban player embodying so many different volleyball skills. It is not uncommon to see Taymaris tool the block of tall outside hitters like Ana Moser, Yelena Godina, or Sun Yue because her suspension permits her to stay in the air, look at the block in front, and hit off of it with precision. At the same time, the Cuban school of volleyball has taught her how to be a good blocker, how to position her hands, reach over, and have the precise timing to do all this. Her setting, which is just a notch wittier than that of Marlenys Costa or Raisa O'Farrill, is standard Cuban fare (which still doesn't say much but let's give her some credit). But Taymaris also has excellent defence, which might be helped by the fact that she's only 1.76 metres tall, thereby permitting her to keep down low to roll and recover balls. Though this is something I haven't seen many of her teammates do, I have to recognise that Cuba is improving gradually in defence. As of 2000, Taymaris is the only Cuban player to jump serve, and the first to set a back row hitter (mainly Ana Ibis Fernández and not very often at that). All in all, Taymaris Agüero's contributions to her team's success have been so notable, that she was awarded as the 1999 World Cup MVP to reward her all-around skills that have helped keep Cuba at the top of international volleyball. (Actually, in 1993 she was awarded the Junior World Championship's MVP Award as well!) Expect her to stand out in Sydney. And maybe she will run a 5-1, which would be an interesting change for a team going for its third consecutive Olympic gold medal.

After Sydney: Just as was expected, Taymaris had a brilliant Olympic performance in Sydney 2000. She used her wit and grace to lead her team to the final against Russia. With amazing poise, Cuba recovered from 0-2 down and took the momentum entirely from Karpol's players. Taymaris was instrumental in the comeback, and she even set Regla Torres a rare medium slide that Torres pounded on Gold Medal Point! The Russians were not expecting the set and no one went up to block! What a way for Agüero to obtain her second and Cuba's third consecutive gold medal... After Sydney, I heard Taymaris moved to Europe (I heard Switzerland? Italy?) and is now playing in the Italian A-1 League, making a fortune and living la dolce vita... Good for her!