Contrast hydrotherapy comprising immersion in alternating cold and warm water baths during recovery from exercise is postulated to facilitate lactate clearance by inducing fluctuations in muscle blood flow₁. This study compared a 30 min passive non-immersed recovery (PASS) with two separate cold (8°C) to warm (40°C) water contrast ratios (CON 1:1 and CON 1:4) to examine blood lactate (BLa) clearance and subsequent performance following two different modes of high-intensity cycle exercise. Ethical approval was granted by the Health Sciences Research Ethics Committee, Trinity College Dublin. Wingate test (WAnT) Protocol: Eight active, male volunteers (25±3 yr; 82±6 kg; 180±9 cm) completed three trials separated by 7 days. For each trial, subjects completed three 30-s Wingate tests. Post recovery, the Wingate tests (WAnT1, WAnT2, WAnT3) were repeated. Repeated Intermittent Sprint (RIS) Protocol: Eight active, male volunteers (23±1 yr; 81±5 kg; 184±4 cm) completed three RIS trials separated by 7 days. They completed an incremental test to establish Pmax. Intermittent 30-s workloads were calculated as 40% Pmax (recovery) and 120% Pmax (sprint). Post recovery, RIS protocol was repeated to failure. Both groups completed the same randomised recovery interventions: CON 1:1 (2.5 min cold: 2.5 min warm); CON 1:4 (1 min cold: 4 min warm) and PASS (seated, non-immersed passive recovery). Data were analysed using a two-way repeated measures ANOVA with Holm-Sidak post-hoc analysis (data presented as mean±SD). BLa concentration for the WAnT group was significantly lower at 1 and 2.5 min of recovery in CON 1:1 and CON 1:4 compared with PASS (9.6±2.4, 9.7±2.3, 13.1±2.3 mmol.l^-1; P<0.001 and 9.8±2.3, 11.1±3.2, 13.1±1.8 mmol.l^-1; P<0.01). There were no differences in BLa between interventions at any other time during recovery. Post recovery, mean power (MP) was significantly higher (P<0.05) for WAnT1 in both CON 1:1 and CON 1:4 (669±71, 681±70W) compared with PASS (651±76W). For WAnT2, MP was significantly higher (P<0.05) in CON 1:4 (657±52W) compared with CON 1:1 and PASS (647±43, 628±57W). A similar finding was observed for WAnT3. For the RIS group, there were no significant differences in BLa between recovery interventions, however total work performed post-recovery was significantly higher (P<0.001) for CON 1:1 and CON 1:4 compared with PASS (92719 ± 25765, 90503 ± 25599, 74529 ± 22486kJ respectively). Despite no overall difference in BLa clearance, contrast hydrotherapy had a positive effect on exercise performance in both WAnT and RIS groups. Although BLa was lower during the initial phase of contrast water immersion for the WAnT group, this was not sustained over the duration of the recovery period and no effect on BLa was evident during contrast hydrotherapy following RIS.