Schedule and viewing guide for 10 Olympians with Rochester ties

The 2026 Winter Olympics may officially open Friday, February 6, in Milan, Italy, but several athletes with local ties will begin the Games a day early.

To recap, there are 10 current Olympic athletes with Rochester ties.

Pittsford native Chris Lillis, Rochester native Dylan Walczyk and eight Bishop Kearney grads — Rochester native Haley Winn, Caroline Harvey (defender) of New Hampshire, Laila Edwards (forward) of Ohio, Kirsten Simms (forward) of Michigan and Ava McNaughton (goalie) of Pennsylvania. There are three other Kearney grads skating for their respective countries — Nina Christof (forward) of Germany, Jule Schiefer (forward) of Germany and Michaela Hesová (goalie) of Czechia.

Let's see who begins living their Olympic dreams first:

U.S. women's hockey begins play Feb. 5

Five recent Bishop Kearney grads made the U.S. team, which is the favorite to win a gold medal in women's hockey. Winn, Harvey, Edwards, Simms and McNaughton and their teammates play four matches in the qualifying round:

• 10:40 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 5 -- USA vs. Czechia TV: USA Network. Streaming:Peacock. (Will be rebroadcast at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, and 10:30 a.m. Friday, Feb. 6.)
• 10:40 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 7 -- USA vs. Finland TV: USA Network. Streaming: Peacock. (Will be rebroadcast at 6 and 11 p.m.)
• 2:40 p.m. Monday, Feb. 9 -- Switzerland vs. USA TV: USA Network. Streaming: Peacock. (Will be rebroadcast at 11 p.m.)
• 2:10 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 10 -- Canada vs. USA TV: USA Network. Streaming: Peacock. (Will be rebroadcast at 11 p.m.)
• Quarterfinals begin at 10:40 a.m. Friday, Feb. 13.

Dylan Walczyk competing in his second Olympics

Dylan Walczyk, a Rochester native and former Bristol Mountain athlete, is skiing in men's moguls and dual moguls at the 2026 Olympics.

Men's moguls

• 5:15 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 10 -- qualifying round 1 Streaming: Peacock. (Will be broadcast at 10:30 a.m. on USA Network and 11:35 p.m. on Channel 10)
• 4 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 12 -- qualifying round 2 Streaming: Peacock.
• 6:15 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 12 -- men's moguls final Streaming: Peacock. (Will be broadcast at 6:45 a.m. on USA Network and noon on Channel 10)

Men's dual moguls

• 4:30 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 15 -- finals Streaming: Peacock. (Will be broadcast at 4:40 a.m. on USA Network and 12:30 p.m. on Channel 10)

Chris Lillis chases a second Olympic medal

Chris Lillis, a Pittsford native and 2022 gold medalist, is skiing in men's aerials and mixed team aerials at the Winter Olympics.

Men's aerials

• 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 17 -- Qualifying round Streaming: Peacock. (Will be broadcast on USA Network at 11 a.m. Feb. 17, and again at noon on Channel 10)
• 5:30 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 19 -- Finals TV: USA Network. Streaming: Peacock. (Will be rebroadcast at noon on Channel 10)

Mixed team aerials

• 4:45 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 21 -- Finals TV: USA Network. Streaming: Peacock. (Will be rebroadcast at 4:30 p.m. on Channel 10 (NBC)

Kearney grad in goal for Czechia

Michaela Hesová will be between the pipes for Czechia:

• 10:40 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 5 -- USA vs. Czechia TV: USA Network. Streaming:Peacock. (Will be rebroadcast at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, and 10:30 a.m. Friday, Feb. 6.)
• 8:40 a.m. Friday, Feb. 6 -- Czechia vs. Switzerland Streaming:Peacock.
• 3:10 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 8 -- Czechia vs. Finland Streaming:Peacock. (Will be broadcast at 5 p.m. on USA Network)
• 3:10 p.m. Monday, Feb. 9 -- Canada vs. Czechia Streaming:Peacock. (Will be broadcast at 5 p.m. on USA Network)
• Quarterfinals begin at 10:40 a.m. Friday, Feb. 13.

Two Kearney grads playing for Germany

Nina Christof and Jule Schiefer are forwards skating for Germany.

• 6:10 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 5 -- Sweden vs. Germany Streaming:Peacock.
• 6:10 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 7 -- Germany vs. Japan Streaming:Peacock.
• 10:40 a.m. Monday, Feb. 9 -- Germany vs. France Streaming:Peacock.
• 10:40 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 10 -- Italy vs. Germany Streaming:Peacock.

Bill Wolcott is a producer who helps cover the Buffalo Bills, high school and Rochester sports in general. The lifelong New Yorker has been a journalist for 31 years.

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Where to watch 10 Rochester-connected athletes at 2026 Winter Olympics