I'm new too, but I think everyone has a "hard" part of the tri. Mine is biking, but yours is obviously swimming. One thing that really helped me increase my distance with swimming was using the workout plans for swimming on swimplan.com. I noticed that when I did those, my endurance SHOT up. Maybe that will help. Additionally, look for some form videos on YouTube. I haven't done that, but a friend of mine said just getting the right form helped her A LOT!

Swimming will absolutely get easier if you keep on swimming. It's pretty frustrating in the beginning but I have seen the largest number of noobs, myself included, have huge breakthroughs at some point. When it all does finally click it's awesome. The downside, as Scott pointed out, is that despite swimming getting easier to "cruise" adding speed is just plain hard.

If you struggling with breathing try different methods. I had many people suggest that I need to swim bi-laterally or I am doing it wrong. Perhaps that's true, dunno. However, I am more comfortable breathing to one side or the other and breathing every two strokes. Bi-lateral would have me take a breath each 3rd stroke. The argument was always something along the line of what if you need to breath right because of crowds, waves, etc.

Well, I solved that. Once I figured out I am more comfortable and faster breathing left I then taught myself to breath right as well while still taking a breath every 2 strokes. I am faster and much more comfortable this way and I can switch at any time should conditions change.

Wow, that was a long thought. Anyway, not all elite athletes breath bi-laterally during race conditions. Check it out on youtube and look at races. Many, including Phelps, breath to one side or the other every 2 strokes for the duration of the race.

All I can say is I hope so! If not, I'm for sure going to drown in the ocean on September 22.