On the road to the Sydney Olympics Wouda took part in the 2000 European Aquatics Championships in Helsinki, Finland where he won a bronze medal in the 4×200 m freestyle together with Martijn Zuijdweg, Mark van der Zijden and Pieter van den Hoogenband. Wouda won a bronze medal in the 4×200 m freestyle relay at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia alongside Martijn Zuijdweg, Johan Kenkhuis and Pieter van den Hoogenband. Individually he ended 5th in the 200 m individual medley and 13th in the 100 m breaststroke. With the 4×100 m medley team he ended 4th just missing out for a medal alongside Klaas-Erik Zwering, Joris Keizer and Pieter van den Hoogenband. In the aftermath of the Sydney Olympics Wouda resigned from swimming. Six months later a journalist from Dutch daily NRC Handelsblad, Mark Hoogstad, wrote a book describing the resurrection of Dutch swimming at the hand of Wouda's career.